{"id":4699,"date":"2026-10-19T11:18:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T11:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=4699"},"modified":"2026-10-19T11:18:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T11:18:54","slug":"kenya-confirms-eighth-ebola-case-as-contact-tracing-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/19\/kenya-confirms-eighth-ebola-case-as-contact-tracing-continues\/politics\/regional\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya confirms eighth Ebola case as contact tracing continues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-7-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-7-2.jpg 678w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-7-2-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kenya has confirmed its eighth Ebola infection, involving a 49-year-old hospital patient attendant who was likely exposed to the virus while working in the room of the country\u2019s first reported patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth announced the case on Sunday, October 18, after health officials tested 38 people and found one positive result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The man developed a fever, headache and muscle pain. He had been in quarantine since October 9 and was isolated after testing positive, according to Amoth, who spoke during an interview with Citizen TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The patient was not a direct healthcare worker but worked at a health facility handling tasks including cleaning utensils and linens. Amoth said he was likely exposed to the virus in the room of Kenya\u2019s first Ebola patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kenya\u2019s initial case involved a businessman in his forties who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through Uganda before reaching Nairobi. He died in a Nairobi hospital on October 5, and the case was reported the following day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other seven confirmed infections have involved relatives of the first patient and health workers who treated him. Amoth said the other patients were in stable condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kenyan authorities have identified 130 contacts linked to the outbreak. Of these, 128 had been traced and placed in quarantine by the time officials reported the figures last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest infection comes as health authorities intensify surveillance and contact tracing to limit further transmission. The outbreak has raised concerns across East Africa because of cross-border travel and the spread of the virus beyond the DRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths linked to the outbreak before declaring itself free of the virus in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the DRC, where the outbreak began, infections and deaths have continued to rise. The virus has also spread to North Ubangi, bringing the number of affected provinces to eight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kenya has confirmed its eighth Ebola infection, involving a 49-year-old hospital patient attendant who was likely exposed to the virus while working in the room [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,43,51,41,35,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news","category-current_affairs","category-health","category-hot_topics","category-regional","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4701,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4699\/revisions\/4701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}