Kenya reports first Ebola case imported from DR Congo after patient dies

Kenya reported its first-ever Ebola death, the health minister announced on Tuesday, after a Kenyan man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo died after returning to the country.

In mid-May, the DR Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak, an extremely deadly disease that has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.

While Kenya has previously never reported a case, neighbouring Uganda recorded 20 Ebola cases – almost all people who had travelled from the DR Congo – and two deaths, before being declared Ebola-free in August.

The Kenyan citizen, who has not been named, fell ill about a month ago and had been treated in the DR Congo, Health Minister Aden Duale told reporters, before travelling overland to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and then flying to Nairobi on October 3.