Kenya reports second Ebola death as outbreak stays within one cluster
Photo: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)Kenya has recorded a second Ebola death, the health ministry said late Friday, after a 65-year-old woman who developed symptoms while in quarantine died in Nairobi — the latest fatality in the country's first-ever Ebola outbreak.
The woman was a close relative and direct contact of Kenya's first patient, the ministry said. She developed symptoms on October 13 and was admitted the same day to an infectious disease unit, where she received supportive care for 10 days before dying on the evening of October 23. “This loss brings the number of deaths to two among the nine confirmed cases. The remaining seven patients continue to receive care in the two isolation facilities,” the ministry said, adding there was no evidence of community spread.
Kenya's first case was identified this month in a 40-year-old man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo and traveled to Nairobi via Uganda, arriving October 3; he tested positive and died on October 5. Authorities have traced 135 contacts, all placed in quarantine, with nine cases confirmed.
The outbreak, which began in Congo, has now been reported in four countries across eastern, central and western Africa — the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date, Reuters reported. Nigeria became the fourth country to report a case on Tuesday, and late Monday the U.S. State Department advised Americans to reconsider travel to Kenya and raised its travel advisory level over health risks. The rare Ebola species behind the current outbreak has no approved treatment or vaccine, and only people with symptoms can transmit the virus.
Sources: Reuters (Oct 23, 2026); Associated Press (Oct 23, 2026).
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