Travel route of the Ebola patient from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, through Kampala, Uganda, and arriving in Nairobi, Kenya./AI ILLUSTRATIONKenyan health authorities are tracing 23 passengers and four crew members who travelled on the same flight as the country’s first confirmed imported Ebola patient.
The patient, a Kenyan citizen who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for the past seven years, travelled to Kenya after falling ill and receiving treatment at several hospitals while still in the DRC.
According to the Ministry of Health, he travelled from the DRC to Kampala by road before boarding a flight to Nairobi.
The statement gives his arrival date as Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 1.10pm.
Upon arrival in Nairobi, the patient underwent routine public health screening at the Port Health and immigration desks at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
He was then transported directly from JKIA by a relative and a friend in a Toyota Fielder to Nairobi Hospital.
The patient was quickly isolated in a separate room at the hospital’s accident and emergency department before being transferred to the East Wing Isolation Facility.
He presented with fever, chills, intense fatigue and weakness, muscle pain, painful swallowing, sore throat and bleeding under the skin at injection sites.
The Ministry said the patient had fallen ill about a month earlier and had been treated at several hospitals in the DRC before travelling to Kenya.
The travel history has become a key part of the public health response, with authorities tracing people who may have been exposed to the patient during his journey.
The Ministry said 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight are being traced, while arrangements are being made to quarantine those considered to be at risk.
The patient later died after being placed on supportive treatment, prompting authorities to intensify contact tracing and other containment measures.
The Ministry said it had maintained a high level of alert for Ebola since the outbreak began in May 2026.
As of October 6, 2026, health authorities had screened 652,584 travellers and tested 267 samples across five laboratories. Only one test had returned positive.
The Ministry said it had also trained 4,971 health workers at national and sub-national levels on Ebola prevention and management.
It has notified the World Health Organisation of the case in line with the International Health Regulations.
The Ministry urged the public not to panic, saying measures were in place to contain the spread of the disease.
It advised members of the public to maintain hand hygiene, avoid close contact with sick people arriving from countries reporting active Ebola transmission and seek medical attention if unwell.
