Second Ebola Case Dies in Kenya as Health Officials Watch Border Traffic

Kenya's health ministry confirmed a second Ebola death on 24 October, a 65-year-old woman who had been quarantined after showing symptoms on 13 October. She was a close relative of the first patient, a man who died on 5 October after travelling from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The first victim fell ill in September and was treated at hospitals in DR Congo before reaching Nairobi, where he died days later. Seven other people are receiving care at two isolation facilities: three of his relatives, three health workers and a hospital cleaner. The ministry said all cases belong to "one cluster, with no evidence of community spread".

The Bundibugyo strain behind the cases is rare, and no vaccine or treatment has been approved for it, though trials are under way. The International Rescue Committee, which works with both governments, said Kenya faces a steady risk of new cases arriving across its borders.

Kenya has added screening for travellers from DR Congo and nine other countries it labels high risk: Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Sudan and the Central African Republic. Passengers complete a digital surveillance form before boarding and present a QR code to port health officials on arrival. Aircraft from those destinations also face extra screening.

The United States has warned its citizens against travelling to Kenya, and Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia are on alert. Uganda's health ministry said on Friday that people who have been to DR Congo can no longer transit through the country.

Nigeria's health minister, Prof Ali Pate, said the country's single confirmed case appears genetically related to a strain found earlier in Kenya, with no evidence the Kenyan patient travelled to Nigeria. Testing continues to determine whether the first two patients crossed paths; both are believed to have passed through Uganda's Entebbe airport earlier this month.