Kenya has confirmed an eighth Ebola case after a 49-year-old patient attendant tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.

Patrick Amoth, director-general for health at the Ministry of Health, said the patient had been isolated for treatment after developing fever, headache and muscle pain.

Amoth said 38 people were tested on Sunday, with one returning a positive result.

He added that all seven previously confirmed patients had received monoclonal antibodies and were responding well to treatment.

The World Health Organisation says there are no approved vaccines or specific treatments for the Bundibugyo strain, although candidate products are being evaluated in clinical trials.

The latest case follows the confirmation of four new infections on Saturday, including a close male relative of the first patient and three health workers who treated him in hospital.

Amoth sought to allay fears of community transmission, saying the risk of transmission by quarantined individuals was low.

According to the Ministry of Health, authorities have been tracing contacts and quarantining people exposed to confirmed cases.

As of October 17, officials had identified 130 contacts of the first patient and traced 128. Contact tracing for cases confirmed since then is ongoing.

Kenya confirmed its first Ebola case on October 6. The index patient, a Kenyan man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, arrived in Nairobi on October 3.

He died while receiving treatment at a Nairobi hospital and was later given a safe and dignified burial to minimise the risk of transmission.