Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case after a Kenyan citizen who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo died in Nairobi late on Monday, Health Minister Aden Duale said on Tuesday.
The case is linked to the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, which has recorded more than 8,000 cases and is the second-largest Ebola epidemic on record. Kenya is the fourth country to report a case connected to that outbreak.
Patient travelled through Uganda before flying to Nairobi
Duale said the patient had lived in Congo for seven years and had been unwell for about a month. He travelled by road from Congo to Kampala, Uganda's capital, before taking a Jambojet flight to Nairobi on Saturday.
After arriving at Nairobi's international airport, the man went through health screening. A relative later took him to Nairobi Hospital, where he was admitted with fever, chills and bleeding beneath the skin. He was isolated soon after admission, according to the health minister.
President William Ruto's office said eight family members and 21 healthcare workers who treated the patient had been placed in quarantine and were under monitoring. The patient was buried under health protocols intended to limit any further spread of the virus.
Authorities are also seeking to trace 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the Jambojet flight, Duale said.
Kenya's health ministry director-general, Patrick Amoth, said medication may have concealed the patient's symptoms during airport screening. Uganda's health ministry said its screening staff had found that he had a normal temperature at Entebbe airport.
It remained unclear how the patient crossed from Congo into Uganda, as the border has been closed since May. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said he spent one night in Uganda before flying to Kenya.
Responding to questions about the journey, Ugandan government spokesperson Alan Kasujja said by text message: “Leave Uganda out of this conversation ... We don't have Ebola here.”
Regional and international support
Duale said Kenya had trained nearly 5,000 health workers nationwide in Ebola prevention and management. Julien Harneis, the United Nations' senior Ebola coordinator, told Reuters that he expected Kenya to mount a “solid health response” to manage the disease.
Africa CDC said it was immediately deploying a high-level team to Kenya to provide support. The organisation said the case “underscores the importance of sustained preparedness across the region”.
World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the WHO was supporting the Kenyan and Ugandan governments. He also recommended against travel restrictions for countries affected by the outbreak.
Uganda earlier reported 20 Ebola cases and two deaths, but was declared Ebola-free in August. In June, a doctor who returned to France from Congo tested positive, although no further transmission was reported there.
Quarantine facility in central Kenya
Following the declaration of the Congo outbreak, the United States built a 50-bed Ebola quarantine camp for US citizens at an air force base in central Kenya. The facility is currently empty and has housed seven people in total.
Kenyan officials have said the site could receive Kenyan citizens and people of other nationalities, although the US government has not confirmed that arrangement.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, including those who have died. Symptoms can include fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, with severe cases involving internal and external bleeding.
The Congo outbreak was declared in mid-May, though it may have begun months before that declaration. It is associated with the rare Bundibugyo strain and has been blamed for more than 4,000 deaths.
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