NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 6— Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei has sought to reassure Kenyans following the death of the country’s first confirmed Ebola patient, saying “mere contact” with an infected person does not lead to infection .

📻 Breaking It Down

Sing’oei said Ebola is not a respiratory disease and spreads through the exchange of bodily fluids, as the government moves to trace and monitor people who may have been exposed to the patient.

“Ebola is not a respiratory disease. Spreads only where exchange of fluids happens. Mere contact does not lead to infection,” Sing’oei said.

The reassurance comes amid concerns that the patient may have interacted with a significant number of people before he was diagnosed and isolated.

📌 What You Need to Know

The patient, who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for about seven years, travelled by road from the DRC through Uganda before boarding a Jambojet flight to Nairobi on October 3.

He arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at about 1:10pm before being picked up by a relative and a friend and taken to Nairobi Hospital, where he was isolated.

He later tested positive for Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease and died on Monday night.

Authorities have identified 28 contacts, including family members and healthcare workers who attended to the patient.

They are also tracing 23 passengers and four crew members who travelled on the same flight from Uganda to Nairobi.

Sing’oei said the government was working with the airline to identify people who may have been exposed and place them under quarantine.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya