Kenya confirms second Ebola case, quarantines airline contacts

Kenya confirmed a second case of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus in a 39‑year‑old man who developed symptoms on 13 October, a relative of the country’s first case who died on 5 October, and more than 40 contacts including airline passengers, crew and airport staff were quarantined.

The Kenyan authorities traced 28 contacts, mainly health workers, along with 23 airline passengers and four crew members, while six passengers were difficult to locate because they had foreign phone numbers; Somalia also quarantined a traveler who had been on a Jambojet flight from Kenya and deployed medical teams to monitor passengers at its airports after the Kenyan case was confirmed.

The World Health Organization praised Kenya’s listing and quarantine of contacts and noted that over 4,000 health workers have been trained for screenings at ports of entry.