The Ministry of Health confirmed that a Kenyan man who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for seven years tested positive for Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease.

He died in Nairobi hours after being admitted.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced the news, saying the government is now racing to trace everyone who may have been exposed.

According to the Ministry, the man fell ill about a month ago while still in the DRC, where he was treated at several hospitals.

He then traveled by road to Kampala, Uganda, and boarded a Jambo Jet flight to Nairobi, landing on Saturday, October 3, 2026.

At 1:10 pm he went through the routine health screening at the Port Health facility at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and then cleared immigration.

A relative and a friend took him straight from the airport to Nairobi Hospital.

The discovery

Doctors first isolated him in a separate room in the Accident and Emergency section, then moved him to the hospital’s East Wing isolation facility.

The facility was built during the COVID-19 pandemic and has an intensive care unit, a high dependency unit and more than 145 beds.

By then he was showing fever, chills, severe fatigue, weakness, muscle pain, a painful and sore throat, and bleeding under the skin at an injection site.

Given those symptoms and his travel from the DRC, doctors suspected a viral haemorrhagic fever and took samples.

Tests at the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) confirmed Ebola Bundibugyo.

Despite supportive treatment, he died at about 11:30 pm.

The Ministry offered condolences to his family and friends and said arrangements are underway for a safe and dignified burial.

Contact tracing

Health officials are tracing 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight.

Quarantine arrangements are ready for anyone considered at risk. Kenya has also notified the World Health Organization under the International Health Regulations, and the WHO Kenya country representative attended the government briefing.

The Ministry says the country has been on high alert since the outbreak began in May 2026. As of October 6: 52,584 travellers had been screened, 267 samples had been tested across five laboratories: the National Virology Reference Laboratory, KEMRI Nairobi, KEMRI Kisumu, and mobile labs at the Busia and Luwahaka (Bungoma) borders, only one test had come back positive, the case now announced 4,971 healthcare workers at national and county levels had been trained in Ebola prevention and management.

Appeal to public

The government urged Kenyans not to panic and says measures are in place to stop further spread. Its advice: wash hands often or use an alcohol-based sanitiser, avoid close contact with sick people arriving from countries with active Ebola transmission, seek care at recognised health facilities when unwell, and report anyone known to be sick to the nearest facility, and get information from the Ministry’s official social media pages or its toll-free line, 719.

Health workers were reminded to apply the highest infection prevention and control standards for every patient, whatever the condition.

The government says it will keep updating Kenyans and the international community as more details emerge.