The Ministry of Health says all of them have tested negative, which means no other case has been confirmed in Kenya.
Suspected sample testing is being done at the National Public Health Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute and CDC laboratories.
The ministry explained the 42-year-old truck driver found with the disease last week had rashes all over his body.
“The patient was presenting with septic spots on the face, neck, forearms, back, chest, feet, and private parts since July 3, 2024,” the Department of Public Health and Professional Standards said in its first situation report.
The first patient has since recovered and released to go home.
The update comes as the World Health Organization said it had elevated the Mpox outbreak response to the highest level requiring organisation-wide mobilisation and scale-up.
WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for an emergency committee of experts meeting to determine whether the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
A PHEIC declaration is an alarm bell to help mobilise international coordination rapidly and streamline funding and development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics.
It also prevents unjustifiable travel and trade restrictions.
The African region is experiencing an unprecedented increase in Mpox since the start of 2024, with more countries previously unaffected by the disease reporting cases in an expanding spread of the virus.
The WHO said 25 African countries are currently reporting Mpox outbreak, with a total of 2,030 confirmed cases and 13 deaths so far this year compared with 1,145 cases and seven deaths in 2023.
Four countries – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda – previously unaffected by Mpox have reported cases since mid-July.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of the reported cases, a new variant that emerged in September 2023 is circulating in the eastern region, WHO said.
“Neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda have reported cases of the new variant. Kenya has also confirmed cases of the new variant. Analyses are ongoing in Burundi to determine whether the reported cases are due to the new variant,” WHO said in a statement.
The pattern of transmission varies across the region, with the spread of new variant (known as Clade 1b) in eastern DRC linked to transmission through sexual contact and high population movement, while in South Africa most of the cases are among people identifying as men having sex with men.
“The priority is to rapidly interrupt the transmission of the virus. We’re collaborating with partners in support of countries to reinforce outbreak control measures and ensure that communities are central to ongoing efforts to effectively end these outbreaks,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
The WHO is working through country teams and experts deployed on the ground to support national authorities to strengthen key response areas, including disease surveillance, diagnosis testing and clinical care, infection prevention and control.
“WHO is working with the health authorities to access therapeutics, decentralise laboratory services for enhanced diagnostic capacities, and ramp up efforts to raise awareness about the risk of the disease among communities,” it said in a statement.
“Field investigation and active case finding are also being reinforced in the affected and at-risk countries.”
Mpox is transmitted from animals to humans, with cases often found close to tropical rainforests where there are animals that carry the virus. The disease can also spread from humans to humans through contact with bodily fluids, lesions on the skin or on internal mucosal surfaces, such as in the mouth or throat, respiratory droplets and contaminated objects.
Treatment of Mpox patients is supportive dependent on the symptoms. Various therapeutics that may be effective against the infection are being developed and tested. Prevention and control relies on raising awareness in communities and educating health workers.
