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Kenyan health authorities have placed ten people under quarantine after they came into contact with a man who died of Ebola in Nairobi this week, marking the first confirmed case of the disease ever recorded in the country. Health officials confirmed that they are also actively tracing another 57 individuals who may have been in contact with the patient, as fears grow that the virus could spread further within Kenya's borders.
The patient, a man who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo, died in a Nairobi hospital on Monday. He had been unwell for approximately one month before his death, according to information released by health officials, raising urgent questions about how he was able to move across multiple countries and international borders without his condition being detected.
Those placed in quarantine are being held at an Ebola isolation facility, where they are under constant observation by medical staff. The isolation units have been established in several major hospitals across Kenya, including at the Nairobi Hospital where the patient died. The health ministry has designated facilities in four main hospitals specifically for the management of Ebola patients as part of its containment strategy.
The case has brought increased scrutiny to Kenya's screening measures at airports and border crossings. Dr Jean Kaseya, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that the patient's journey was extensive and should have raised alarms at multiple points. The man left Buta, a city in northern DR Congo, and drove to Kisangani. From there, he took a flight to Beni, before driving to Uganda. He then boarded a flight from Uganda to Nairobi. Throughout this multi-country journey, despite being sick for roughly a month, his illness went undetected.
Kaseya questioned why the patient's symptoms, which typically include fever, vomiting, and bleeding in severe cases, were not identified during any of the screening checkpoints he passed through. The Africa CDC is now investigating the circumstances surrounding the case alongside Congolese authorities, and a team from the organisation was scheduled to meet with Kenyan health officials to review the situation.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids, including blood, vomit, and other secretions. The current outbreak in DR Congo, which began in May this year, is caused by the Bundibugyo species of the virus. This particular strain is relatively rare compared to other Ebola varieties, and critically, there is no approved vaccine or treatment for it, though clinical trials are currently under way. The outbreak has proven devastating, with more than 4,000 deaths reported in DR Congo this year alone, making it the second most deadly Ebola outbreak ever recorded.
Kenyan health ministry official Patrick Amoth suggested that the patient may have passed through screening because he had taken medications that masked his symptoms. After arriving at Nairobi's airport, the man was transferred by a relative to a hospital in the city, where he subsequently died. He was buried on Tuesday in accordance with health safety guidelines designed to prevent further transmission.
Kenyan authorities have urged the public not to panic, with the health ministry assuring citizens that surveillance has been heightened at airports and border crossings. President William Ruto stated that surveillance and rapid response teams are on the ground, building upon systems the country adopted following the outbreak declaration in DR Congo in May. His spokesman noted that Kenya has the capacity to detect, isolate, and manage suspected cases, adding that more than 650,000 travellers have been screened and 267 samples tested so far.
However, Dr Dennis Miskellah, a representative from Kenya's main doctors' union, expressed that the Ebola case did not come as a surprise to him or to most health workers. He told the BBC's Newsday programme that he had personally witnessed "lapses" at various border points, including those shared with neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania, as well as at Kenya's main international airport. He questioned how a person could be sick for nearly a month in DR Congo, travel through multiple countries and arrive at Kenya's main entry point without being noticed.
Uganda's health ministry has emphasised that the country remains free of Ebola and is maintaining strong surveillance measures to protect public health. The ministry stated that the Kenyan patient had transited through Uganda for less than 24 hours, and screening teams observed he had a normal temperature at the time of departure. Uganda had previously reported two Ebola deaths shortly after DR Congo declared its outbreak in May, but the World Health Organization declared the country free of the disease in August.
The Africa CDC chief emphasised that Kenya was "well prepared" and therefore able to immediately receive and isolate the case, but warned that "it is not the case for all other countries." He stressed that a regional approach is more important than ever to stop the outbreak from spreading further across borders. However, Kaseya also acknowledged a significant challenge: there is no quick testing available at border points, and the taking of temperatures alone is insufficient to reliably detect Ebola cases.
In June, a controversial US plan to establish an Ebola treatment facility at a military base in the central Kenyan town of Nanyuki sparked public concern, with many Kenyans expressing anger about the risks of cross-border infection. The plan was halted by the courts. On Wednesday, Health Minister Aden Duale told local television station NTV that pending the outcome of the court case, the government is considering converting the facility into the region's first infectious disease hospital to deal with outbreaks like Ebola in the future.
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