Kenya Confirms First Case of Swine Flu

By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
29 June 2009

The Kenyan government has announced the country's first case of the H1N1 influenza virus in the country. Kenya's public health minister says a 20-year-old British student working in western Kenya is carrying the virus.

Kenya Minister for Public Health and Sanitation Beth Mugo, seen, during a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya, 29 June 2009

Kenyan public health minister Beth Mugo announced the confirmation of H1N1 in a British medical student who arrived in the country a week ago, as part of a group of students working in the western city of Kisumu.

"I wish now to inform Kenyans that this is the first case of confirmed swine flu diagnosed in Kenya, and whose infection occurred in the United Kingdom," said Mugo. "Since this confirmation, my officers have been monitoring the student. Meanwhile, the Ministry has quarantined the whole group of 30 students staying in a section of a Kisumu hotel."

Mugo said the student likely contracted the virus from his girlfriend, who has also been diagnosed with the disease, before coming to Kenya. She said the strain is a mild one, and the student does not require hospitalization.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 60,000 people have been infected with the virus worldwide, and over 260 have died. In Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire, and South Africa have already reported cases.

As a major transportation hub for the continent, the presence of the disease in Kenya comes as little surprise, and Mugo said more cases would likely be reported in the future.