A Kenyan businessman was able to spend time in one of the regions worst-affected by Ebola, then travel to two more countries before his illness was identified. The 40-year-old - who was only diagnosed with the deadly infectious disease after arriving seriously ill at a Nairobi hospital - became Kenya's first confirmed case. He died two days later on 5 October.
That his infection went undetected at multiple health facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and two airport health screenings in Uganda and Kenya has raised serious questions about these nations' biosecurity during a significant outbreak. More than 4,000 people have died from Ebola in DR Congo this year, in what is the second most deadly known outbreak to date. Africa CDC, the continent's leading public health agency, has now reconstructed the Kenyan patient's movements across nearly six weeks, revealing several missed opportunities to detect his infection and potentially preventing dozens of people from coming into contact with the deadly virus.
The account, presented by the agency's emergency director, Dr Wessam Mankoula, provides the clearest picture yet of how the businessman travelled thousands of kilometres while growing increasingly unwell. The man, whose identity has not been made public, had lived in DR Congo for seven years and had travelled across three of its provinces on business. Exactly when or where he contracted Ebola remains unclear - but it was present in all three provinces he went through by early October, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The man had spent much of late August and early September in the province of Bas-Uélé, visiting towns including Buta, Aketi and Likati. The WHO confirmed an Ebola case in Buta in August, prior to his visit, though there is no evidence he contracted the virus there. His symptoms first emerged around 15 September.
He was given antibiotics and sent home. Two days later, he was admitted to the Tongo Etandi Health Centre in Bondo, where he remained until 19 September. Despite suffering from fever and a rash, he was diagnosed with a skin infection.
Without an Ebola test being taken at any point during his travels, it is hard to say exactly when he contracted the virus. Those symptoms are consistent with the early stages of the disease, but also other infections common to the region, such as malaria. On 20 September, he flew to Kisangani, a city with a population of about 1.5 million people on the Congo River, where he spent more than 10 days seeking medical care.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
