Kenya Confirms Third Ebola Case Amid DRC Outbreak

Kenya has confirmed a third case of Ebola, a 65-year-old woman who is a close relative of the country's first two cases.

She had been in quarantine since October 6 before developing symptoms. The first case was a 40-year-old Kenyan man who died on October 5 after traveling from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A second case, a 39-year-old man and relative of the first, was confirmed earlier and was in quarantine when he fell ill.

The outbreak in the DRC is described as the deadliest ever and is spreading under difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers' strike, and population movements. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated the outbreak is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, which killed over 11,000 people. The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no specific vaccine or treatment, though the Ervebo vaccine is being used under a compassionate-use program.

Health authorities in the DRC reported 9,066 confirmed cases and 4,381 deaths as of Wednesday. In Kenya, authorities have traced and quarantined 127 of 130 identified contacts, with efforts ongoing to locate the remaining three. The risk to the public in Kenya is considered low, with no evidence of community transmission. Experts warn that around a third of cases in the DRC go undetected until after death, and about half of confirmed cases have no known epidemiological link.

Contact tracing remains below target at under 80 percent. International efforts to develop pandemic vaccines within 100 days must be accompanied by stronger basic infection control, according to Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, a leading Congolese scientist. Over $700 million in Ebola response funds in the Congo are unaccounted for, according to the Africa CDC.