Kenya Reports First Ebola Case as Congo Outbreak Spreads Regionally

2026, October 6

Kenya / Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case after a Kenyan man who had spent seven years living in the Democratic Republic of Congo died in Nairobi. He had travelled overland through Uganda before flying to Kenya, and health authorities have identified 28 contacts while beginning wider contact tracing.

The development raises the international health significance of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, where the Bundibugyo strain has caused more than 8,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths. Kenya has placed health authorities on high alert and trained nearly 5,000 healthcare workers to respond to the disease.