Kenya confirms four more Ebola cases, bringing total to seven

Kenya's Ministry of Health confirmed four new Ebola cases on 17 October 2026, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to seven, including one death. The four new patients were in quarantine, according to Al Jazeera.

The outbreak began with a case of Bundibugyo Ebola Virus Disease confirmed in Nairobi on 6 October. The Ministry of Health described it as an imported case. It was the country's first ever Ebola infection.

The first patient was a Kenyan citizen who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo and died in Nairobi on 6 October, Reuters reported. Kenyan health authorities identified 57 contacts linked to that first case. Ten of those contacts had been accounted for in initial follow-up.

Kenya reported its second Ebola case on 14 October. As of a Ministry of Health press statement dated 13 October, the country had recorded two confirmed cases.

A third infection was reported on 16 October. The third patient was a woman closely related to the first two patients. The World Health Organization said the third case was found early in quarantine, when it reported three confirmed cases in Kenya, including one death, according to WHO.

As of 6 October, Kenya had screened more than 652,000 travellers entering the country. By the same date, 267 suspected samples had been tested.