Kenyan Ebola cases rise to 7

Kenya’s health ministry said three Kenyan health workers tested positive for Ebola.

Another person who has been linked to the country’s first recorded case of Ebola also tested positive while in quarantine, bringing the total number of cases in Kenya to seven.

The ministry said four new patients were being isolated and receiving medical care. The other two patients are stable. The first patient died on October 5, days after arriving in Kenya from Congo, where an outbreak since May has claimed the lives of at least 4,300 people, nearly half of all confirmed cases in that country.

The outbreak is linked to a rare Bundibugio virus for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.

"Ebola is highly contagious and spreads through direct contact with an infected person's bodily fluids, including blood and vomiting, or through contact with contaminated objects and surfaces such as bedding and clothing," the agency wrote.

The health ministry said about 130 people had been in contact with the first patient, a 40-year-old Kenyan. Of those, 128 are under quarantine and the identities of two people are being tracked.