Kenya is moving closer to declaring the end of its Ebola outbreak after the Ministry of Health announced that a sixth patient has recovered and been discharged, while the country has now gone 18 days without recording a new infection.
In a press release issued today, the Ministry said it is Day 32 since Kenya confirmed its first imported case of Ebola, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, on October 6, 2026. According to the Ministry, the measures put in place are working, and the country is firmly on the path to ending the outbreak.
The latest patient to recover is a man who tested negative and met all the conditions required for discharge. Only one patient is still admitted, receiving treatment and close monitoring. The last new case was recorded on October 19, and the total number of confirmed cases has stayed at nine. All of them are linked to one known chain of transmission, and the Ministry says there has been no spread in the community.
The contact tracing numbers also look encouraging. Sixty-six people who had come into contact with the sick have completed the 21 days of monitoring and gone back home. The remaining 52 are expected to finish their quarantine by November 11, 2026.
The Ministry said this progress did not come by chance. Kenya followed the proven steps for stopping Ebola: finding cases early, isolating and treating the sick, tracing and monitoring everyone who came into contact with them, protecting health workers, and burying the dead safely and with dignity. It added that everyone who fell ill after the first case was already in quarantine, so the virus had nowhere to go.
But the fight is not over yet. The Ministry explained that the outbreak will end in a clear, internationally agreed way. Once the last patient leaves the treatment centre free of the virus, Kenya will begin a 42-day countdown. That is twice the longest time the illness takes to show up in a person. If no new case is recorded during those 42 days, the outbreak will be declared over. Until then, the Ministry says, the country must not let its guard down.
The Ministry thanked everyone who has helped get Kenya this far. It singled out doctors, nurses, and laboratory, surveillance and burial teams who worked at great personal risk. It also thanked Community Health Promoters, Public Health Officers, county governments, Kenyatta National Hospital, The Nairobi Hospital, security agencies, religious and community leaders, and the media for sharing accurate information.
Special appreciation went to the patients and their families, and to the contacts who stayed in quarantine for the sake of their neighbours and the whole country. Partners such as WHO, Africa CDC, UNICEF, IGAD and friendly governments were also thanked for standing with Kenya.
Kenyans have been reminded that staying free of Ebola is everyone's responsibility. The public is asked to know the signs, which include fever, weakness, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding, and to seek care early. People should also report any sick person or unexplained death in the community, and avoid touching the blood or body fluids of a sick person or the body of someone who has died of an unexplained illness.
Other advice includes washing hands regularly with soap and water and staying away from sick or dead wild animals and their meat. The Ministry also urged Kenyans to welcome recovered patients and released contacts without stigma.
The Ministry warned that Ebola is still active in the region and that an outbreak in one country can quickly reach another. For this reason, screening of travellers will continue at all 26 points of entry, where more than 760,000 travellers have been screened so far. Emergency operations centres and rapid response teams will remain on alert in every county.
Travellers are asked to fill in the electronic traveller surveillance form on the UHAI Chatbot truthfully before arrival, declare any symptoms honestly, and report any illness within 21 days of arrival. Health workers have been told to ask every patient with fever about their travel and contact history and to keep up infection prevention and control measures.
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