Kenya announces second Ebola death, says ‘no evidence’ of community spread

The Ebola outbreak has now spread to four countries across eastern, central ⁠⁠and western Africa. Kenya has announced its second Ebola death, as the virus outbreak spreads from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to several parts of Africa. The Kenyan Ministry of Health said on Friday that the latest death was that of a 65-year-old woman who had developed symptoms during quarantine and was a close relative of a Kenyan man who died ⁠⁠of Ebola earlier this month. The ministry added that Kenya currently has seven Ebola cases receiving treatment at two isolation facilities. All the cases are within “one cluster, with no evidence of community spread”, it added.

Kenya’s first Ebola case was identified this month in a man who travelled from DRC to Kenya and died at ‌‌a Nairobi hospital on October 5. Since then, Kenyan authorities have traced 135 contacts, all of whom were placed in quarantine, with nine cases confirmed, including the two patients who died. The DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in May and has since reported more than 9,000 cases and more than 4,600 deaths. The deadly disease has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years. The current outbreak has now been reported in four countries across eastern, central ⁠⁠and western Africa, giving it the widest