Kenya Confirms Third Ebola Case in First Cluster
Kenya has confirmed a third infection with Bundibugyo ebolavirus, extending the country's first-ever cluster of Ebola cases.
The third patient was a close relative of the first two cases, Reuters reported. The World Health Organization's Africa office said the case was found early in quarantine, as it described support for Kenya's response.
Kenya's first confirmed case was a Kenyan citizen who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and died in Nairobi, Reuters reported. The death was confirmed on 6 October, according to the BBC. The World Health Organization said on 8 October that Kenya had reported its first laboratory-confirmed imported case of Bundibugyo virus disease.
The cases are linked to an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where authorities declared an outbreak of Bundibugyo virus disease on 15 May 2026. That outbreak has since spread to an eighth province, according to CIDRAP. The Guardian described the wider regional outbreak as the second-largest in history, with more than 4,300 deaths and more than 9,000 illnesses.
Separately, the United States created a quarantine center at Kenya's Laikipia air base where Americans returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo would be required to quarantine. A Kenyan court ordered a halt to the center after local opposition and protests. Litigation over the site will be decided in November, The Guardian reported.
On 1 October, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention closed HIV prevention offices in Angola and South Sudan, with plans to close offices in Zimbabwe. Kenya's Ministry of Health has said it scaled up Ebola surveillance and border response measures.
