Kenya searches for missing Ugandan contact as Ebola cases rise

Kenya's director general of health, Patrick Amoth, says authorities have been unable to locate the contact case, despite having his passport and telephone numbers.

The man is suspected of having crossed the border using an unofficial route to avoid border checks, Amoth said on Tuesday. Ugandan authorities have been notified.

The current Ebola outbreak was first declared in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in mid-May. 

On Tuesday evening, Kenya announced a ninth case. Nairobi said it was “still linked to the first cluster”. The patient is being held in isolation, along with the other 129 people identified as contacts by health authorities.

Earlier this week, the United States State ​Department advised Americans to reconsider travel to Kenya and raised its travel advisory level for the country because of health risks.

A race against time to prevent an outbreak follows Kenya's first Ebola death

Quarantine centre concerns

The authorities maintain that the situation remains under control, but their handling of the outbreak has come in for criticism.

Opponents accuse the government of a lack of transparency in its response.

“It is clear that quarantine centres are turning into incubation units for the Ebola virus,” said David Maraga, a former chief justice and candidate in Kenya's 2027 presidential election.

After days of pressure, the doctors' union was included in the national Ebola response task force on Tuesday.

France earmarks a further €7m to help fight DRC's worst-ever Ebola crisis

Regional threat

Nigeria on Tuesday became the latest country to be affected by the recent Ebola outbreak, when a woman who arrived from Uganda around two weeks ago was diagnosed in the capital Abuja.

Health Minister Muhammad Pate said authorities had begun tracing 44 people identified as contacts of the patient and were "doing everything possible to contain this case".

Caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, the outbreak has killed at least 4,600 of the 9,500 people affected in DRC.

However, drug trials suggest there may be "reasons for hope". The first clinical trial of a potential vaccine is expected to begin by the end of October, the World Health Organization said on 13 October.

Nigeria Ebola case matches DR Congo strain

Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths before declaring the outbreak over in its territory in late August.

Jean Kaseya, head of Africa CDC – the African Union's health agency in charge of disease control and prevention – warned on Tuesday of “an extremely serious threat” and called for international mobilisation.

France in June confirmed a positive case of Ebola in a doctor traveling back from DRC, making it the only country outside Africa so far to have recorded a case in the current outbreak.

(with newswires)