Kenya confirms first Ebola case imported from Congo after man dies in Nairobi

• Kenya confirmed its first Ebola case on Oct 6 after a man who travelled from Congo died in Nairobi, making Kenya the third country linked to the eastern Congo Ebola outbreak.
• The patient was isolated in Nairobi Hospital, and 28 contacts plus flight passengers were being traced to prevent spread.
• Kenya has trained nearly 5,000 health workers and maintains high alert; the WHO expects the country to manage it effectively.

NAIROBI – Kenya confirmed its first Ebola case on Oct 6 after a Kenyan citizen who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo died in Nairobi.

Kenya is the third country to record a case linked to the Ebola epidemic in eastern Congo, the second largest on record with more than 8,000 cases. Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier in 2026 but was declared Ebola-free in August.

The patient, who lived in Congo for seven years, had been ill for about a month before travelling by road from Congo to Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and then flying to Nairobi on Oct 3, Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale told reporters.

After arriving at Nairobi’s international airport, he passed through health screening and was later taken by a relative to Nairobi Hospital. He was admitted with fever, chills and bleeding beneath the skin and was quickly placed in isolation, Duale said.

He died late on Oct 5.

Health Ministry director-general Patrick Amoth said the patient may have passed through airport screening because medication masked his symptoms.

The patient was due to be buried later on Oct 6 under protocols designed to prevent further spread of the virus, Duale said.

The health authorities have identified 28 people he came into contact with in Kenya, including relatives and healthcare workers. They are trying to trace another 23 passengers and four crew members who were on his Jambojet flight, Duale said.

Jambojet, a subsidiary of Kenya Airways, said it was working closely with the authorities.

Duale said Kenya was well-prepared to respond to Ebola cases, having trained nearly 5,000 health workers across the country on prevention and management.

“We have continued to maintain, as a country, a high level of alert for Ebola since the outbreak began in May,” he said.

The World Health Organization assessed in August that the risk of an Ebola outbreak was high for countries sharing land borders with Congo but low for all other countries.

“With a solid health response, which is what my colleagues expect from the Kenyan government, this will be managed,” Julien Harneis, the United Nations’ senior Ebola coordinator, said.

After the outbreak was declared in Congo, the United States built a 50-bed Ebola quarantine camp for Americans on an air force base in central Kenya.

The facility is currently empty and has only housed seven people. Kenyan officials have said it could receive Kenyans and other nationalities, but the US government has not confirmed that.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, whether living or dead. The disease can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.

The outbreak in Congo was declared in mid-May but may have started months earlier. Caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, it has been blamed for more than 4,000 deaths. REUTERS