Symbolic imageKenya reports second Ebola death as Congo starts Bundibugyo vaccine trial
Kenya's Health Ministry announced a second Ebola death on Friday. In Congo, the first person received an experimental Bundibugyo vaccine.
The victim, a 65-year-old woman, was Kenya's third confirmed case and a close family member of the first patient. She developed symptoms on 13 October while in quarantine, the ministry said. Seven of the nine confirmed patients are being treated in two isolation facilities, and the ministry says all cases belong to one cluster of known contacts, with no evidence of community spread. Africa CDC calls the outbreak, which became known in mid-May in eastern Congo, the fastest-growing in Ebola history. Handelsblatt, citing Congo's health authority, reports more than 9,700 patients and more than 4,700 deaths, while Politika, citing Tanjug, gives more than 9,000 infections and more than 4,300 deaths.
Vaccine trial begins in Congo
The University of Antwerp and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, whose teams work on the ground, say the clinical study will test several candidate vaccines at once. No vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain is approved. Steve Ahuka-Mundeke, Congo's Ebola response coordinator, called the study an important step.
Nigeria prepares, Entebbe examined
After Nigeria confirmed its first case on 20 October in Abuja, in a patient who had travelled from Uganda, Lagos health commissioner Akin Abayomi said the state is on high alert, has upgraded its isolation centre and aims for laboratory results within 24 hours. Premium Times reports that officials are examining whether the Kenyan and Nigerian patients were exposed at Uganda's Entebbe airport, which both reportedly passed through on 3 October; no direct link has been established.