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Kenya’s Ministry of Health confirmed the nation’s first Ebola case on October 6 after a Kenyan citizen who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for seven years died at Nairobi Hospital the previous night. The patient, who contracted the Bundibugyo strain, had been ill for approximately one month, receiving treatment at several facilities in the DRC before traveling by road to Uganda and boarding a Jambojet flight from Entebbe to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on October 3. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced that the man passed routine screening upon arrival despite exhibiting symptoms including fever, chills, muscle pain and bleeding beneath the skin, according to a statement from the ministry.
The ministry’s tally listed 57 contacts of the deceased, with ten individuals placed in quarantine at an Ebola isolation facility where they remain under constant observation, Duale reported. Officials are also tracing 27 passengers and four crew members from the October 3 flight in addition to eight relatives and 21 health workers who had direct exposure before the diagnosis was confirmed. A Reuters assessment found the case has exposed gaps in regional border screening systems that rely heavily on traveler disclosure and temperature checks, which medication taken by the patient may have masked.
Kenya had screened 652,584 travelers and tested 267 samples across five laboratories as of October 6, with only this single positive result, according to figures released by the Ministry of Health. The government designated isolation facilities at multiple hospitals including Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and Nairobi Hospital, which together provide more than 250 beds for potential cases. President William Ruto directed the National Security Council Committee to evaluate the threat level and recommend further measures, State House reported.
The World Health Organization stated it is collaborating with Kenyan authorities to intensify surveillance, contact tracing and risk communication at points of entry following the imported case. A WHO assessment indicated Kenya improved its overall Ebola preparedness score from 66 percent in May 2026 to 82 percent by July through enhanced training of nearly 5,000 healthcare workers and delivery of testing kits and personal protective equipment. The agency noted that 13 Kenyan counties were classified as very high risk due to proximity to the ongoing DRC outbreak.
More than 8,500 Ebola cases and over 4,100 deaths have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the current outbreak began in May, World Health Organization data shows, making it the largest recorded there since the virus was identified in 1976. Uganda, which reported cases earlier this year, was declared free of the virus in August, yet the patient transited through Entebbe without detection, a sequence that Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention officials described as troubling. Daily Nation reporting highlighted that no visible enhanced screening was evident at JKIA for some arriving passengers in late September, raising further questions about implementation.
Health Director-General Patrick Amoth told local media that the patient was isolated promptly upon presenting at Nairobi Hospital and that the burial followed strict safety protocols to prevent further transmission. No additional positive cases have been identified among tested contacts, according to repeated ministry updates. Officials continue active surveillance at 15 points of entry while expanding laboratory capacity at border locations.
