Kenya confirms prelimary tests on suspected Ebola case come back negative

Authorities in Kenya’s Wajir County have confirmed that preliminary lab results for a person suspected of having Ebola have come back negative.

The 20-year-old man had travelled into the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo through Uganda before seeking medical attention at a health facility in the area.

Local media is reporting Wajir’s governor as saying health officials will continue monitoring the patient and providing medical care as required.

There had been fears he could be Kenya’s second case of Ebola after a citizen who had ​travelled from the Congo died of ⁠the haemorrhagic virus in Nairobi on Tuesday.

Officials are working to trace anyone who came into contact with this man – but no new infections have been found so far.

His case has exposed lapses in border screening ⁠systems, as ​he was able ​to pass through multiple airport temperature checks.

Kenya is the fourth country to record a case ​linked to the Ebola epidemic in the ​eastern DRC, the second-largest on record with more than 8,000 cases.