Jambojet released a statement on Tuesday, October 6, citing that it is working with the Ministry of Health and Port Health Services to identify and manage guests and crew who may have been in contact with a passenger on flight JM 8523 from Entebbe to Nairobi on Saturday, October 3, after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale confirmed that the traveller was Kenya's first Ebola case.
In a holding statement issued, the airline said it is supporting the ongoing public health response and that the health and safety of guests, crew and staff remain its highest priority. It urged guests and the public to rely on official information from its verified social media platforms (@FlyJambojet) and the health authorities.
Duale told a press conference that the patient was a Kenyan who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for seven years. He fell ill about a month ago, was treated at several hospitals in the DRC, then travelled by road to Kampala before boarding the Jambojet flight. He arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at about 1:10pm on October 3, passed the routine Port Health screening and immigration and was taken by a relative and a friend to Nairobi Hospital.
The hospital isolated him and a doctor who suspected viral haemorrhagic fever took a sample. It tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola at both the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). The patient died at about 11:30pm on Monday, October 5.
Duale said 28 contacts have been identified so far, including family members and health workers and the ministry is working to establish the patient's movements and trace others who may have been exposed during his journey and after he arrived. Screening has been stepped up at JKIA and land border points. Duale said more than 650,000 travellers had been screened before this first confirmed case.
The case comes from the DRC's largest Ebola outbreak on record. It was declared in mid-May and the DRC has reported more than 8,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths. Uganda also recorded cases earlier and the World Health Organisation declared it free of the disease in August. There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo, so authorities rely on isolation, contact tracing and infection control. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the body fluids of infected people, living or dead.
