Kenya on Monday released from quarantine the first group of people who came into contact with its index Ebola patient, a milestone in its efforts to contain cases to a single infection cluster.
Kenya has reported nine Ebola cases so far, two of whom have died. Nigeria has said its first Ebola case in more than a decade, which it reported last week, appears to be closely related to Kenya’s index case, citing genomic analysis. Ebola’s spread from Congo, where the outbreak was declared in mid-May, to Kenya has raised concerns about lapses in border screening. The two cases both flew out of Uganda’s Entebbe airport on the same day in early October.
The remaining seven patients are stable and receiving treatment, Amoth said, adding that 98 others still in quarantine would be released in four waves beginning on November 3. Kenya’s first case died in a hospital in Nairobi on October 5, after which eight others fell ill while in quarantine. It announced on Friday that a second person had died.
