Kenya confirms first Ebola case imported from Congo, patient has died

Health workers wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) attend a training by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for personnel preparing to reinforce regional Ebola response capacity in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid an outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain, at an Ebola simulation treatment center set up by MSF in Kajiado County near Nairobi, Kenya, August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

NAIROBI, Oct 6 - Kenya has recorded its first confirmed Ebola case, a Kenyan citizen who has been living in Democratic Republic of Congo and arrived in Nairobi on Saturday, health minister Aden Duale said.

The patient has since died, and 28 contacts have been identified so far including family members and health workers, Duale told a press conference.

Congo has been battling its largest-ever Ebola outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo species.

The outbreak was declared in mid-May but may have started months earlier and has so far resisted containment efforts, with the Central African country recording more than 8,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths.

The outbreak earlier spread to Uganda, which reported 20 cases and two deaths, but the World Health Organization declared Uganda free of the disease in August.

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