Kenya Ebola

A Kenyan man has died of Ebola in Nairobi. Kenya's first confirmed case of the virus. He had returned days earlier from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Health Secretary Aden Duale told reporters in Nairobi on Tuesday that the man had lived in Congo for seven years and fell ill about a month before his death. He traveled by road to Kampala, Uganda, then flew to Nairobi on October 3, Duale said, according to the BBC. Staff brought him from the airport to Nairobi Hospital, where fever, chills, fatigue and bleeding under the skin set in before he tested positive for Ebola. He died at 11:30 p.m. Monday. Burial followed Tuesday, under public health protocols.

Health officials identified 28 contacts, including relatives and the health workers who treated him, and placed them under 21-day isolation, Duale said, according to Al Jazeera. They're also tracing 23 passengers and four crew members who shared his flight from Uganda.

Across the border, Congo is fighting the deadliest Ebola outbreak in its history. More than 4,000 people have died there and confirmed cases have topped 8,300 across seven provinces since the outbreak was declared on May 15, Al Jazeera reported. North Kivu province alone now accounts for nearly 40% of new cases nationwide, up from 24% in late August, according to the Guardian. Médecins Sans Frontières warned Monday that the virus is spreading "like a megafire."

The culprit is the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. No vaccine is approved. Treatment doesn't exist, either. Four vaccines are in human trials, the BBC reported. Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths earlier this year before the World Health Organization declared the country Ebola-free in August, Al Jazeera reported. France has logged one case tied to the outbreak, DW reported.

Kenya has tightened screening at airports and border crossings since Congo declared the outbreak, the health ministry said. Still, the man may have slipped past airport screening in Nairobi, a senior health official told the BBC, because medication he was taking had masked his symptoms.

"I wish to assure the public not to panic, as all systems are in place to mitigate the spread of the disease," Duale said.