Kenya has confirmed its first-ever Ebola case after a Kenyan citizen who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) passed away in Nairobi, extending the reach of an outbreak that has already become the country’s largest recorded Ebola epidemic.
Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale confirmed that the patient, who had been living in the DRC for seven years, tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus after being admitted to hospital in Nairobi with symptoms consistent with a viral haemorrhagic fever.
The patient had reportedly been ill for about a month before travelling by road from the DRC to Uganda’s capital, Kampala, before boarding a flight to Nairobi.
After arriving at Nairobi’s international airport, the patient underwent routine health screening but was allowed to leave the facility. He was later taken by a relative to Nairobi Hospital after his condition deteriorated.
According to Duale, the patient was admitted with fever, chills, intense fatigue and weakness, painful swallowing, muscle pain, and bleeding beneath the skin. Doctors suspected a viral haemorrhagic fever because of his symptoms and travel history before collecting samples for laboratory testing.
The results confirmed infection with Ebola Bundibugyo virus.
The patient was subsequently transferred to an isolation facility established during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he passed away.
The case represents a new development in East Africa’s response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC, particularly because the disease has already crossed the country’s borders once during the current epidemic.
Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the year after Ebola spread from the DRC. The country was declared Ebola-free in August following the end of its response to the outbreak.
Kenya is now the third country to record a case linked to the current epidemic in eastern Congo, demonstrating the continued vulnerability of neighbouring states despite containment measures and heightened surveillance.
Health officials have identified 28 contacts in Kenya, including relatives and healthcare workers, while efforts are underway to trace another 23 passengers and four crew members who travelled on the same Jambo jet flight as the patient.
Kenyan authorities are also seeking to establish whether additional people encountered the patient during his journey from the DRC through Uganda and into Kenya.
Kenya’s Health Ministry Director General Patrick Amoth medication may have masked the patient’s symptoms at the time he passed through screening, potentially explaining how an individual who had reportedly been ill for weeks was able to continue his journey.
Kenya Steps Up Containment as Congo Outbreak Escalates
Kenyan authorities have moved quickly to contain the risk of further transmission following the confirmation of the case, with the deceased patient scheduled to be buried under strict public health protocols.
According to Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale, “we have continued to maintain, as a country, a high level of alert for Ebola since the outbreak began in May”
The government’s preparedness has been supported by infrastructure developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the isolation facility to which the patient was transferred after doctors suspected Ebola.
Yet the first confirmed case also exposes the difficulty of maintaining a high level of preparedness when infectious diseases move across borders through ordinary commercial and passenger networks.
The regional dimension is particularly important because the DRC’s current outbreak has expanded despite months of containment efforts.
Meanwhile, the outbreak was officially declared in mid-May, although health officials believe transmission may have begun months earlier. The World Health Organization has recorded 8,463 cases and 4,082 deaths, making the epidemic the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the DRC.
The scale of the crisis has been compounded by insecurity and weaknesses in health surveillance in parts of the country.
Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned that the actual toll could be higher because gaps in surveillance and testing in conflict-affected areas may mean some infections and deaths are not being recorded.
MSF described the spread of the virus as occurring “like a megafire,” warning that new transmission hotspots were emerging in North Kivu province, which borders Ituri, where the outbreak began.
The organisation added that the situation has “intensified dramatically” since early September, with North Kivu accounting for nearly 40% of newly confirmed cases nationwide.
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