CS Duale: Kenya hits 100% Ebola contact tracing target

Kenya has achieved 100 per cent contact tracing following an imported Ebola case that claimed the life of a 45-year-old Kenyan, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale says, as the government intensifies efforts to contain the disease.

Speaking on Citizen TV on Sunday, the CS said seven people who tested positive at the time were drawn from the patient’s family and healthcare workers who had direct contact with him.

He said the government had trained more than 4,900 healthcare workers, deployed 342 first responders and equipped high-risk counties, with contacts monitored and tested every 48 hours.

“The global standard for contact tracing is 85 per cent. We have done 100 per cent,” Duale said, adding that authorities had traced people who came into contact with the patient and placed them under quarantine.

He explained that quarantine covered more than family members and medical staff, extending to people who may have encountered the patient during his journey and after his arrival in Kenya.

These included airline crew and passengers, immigration and customs officers, and workers who cleaned the aircraft he travelled on.

The patient had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for seven years and had reportedly been unwell for about a month before travelling by road through Uganda.

He arrived in Nairobi on October 3 aboard Jambojet flight JM8523.

Duale said the patient went directly to a Nairobi hospital after arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, where a doctor identified him as a person of interest based on his symptoms and isolated him for assessment.

The CS said Kenya had 26 high-risk counties equipped to respond to the disease, alongside five laboratories, including two mobile facilities, for testing suspected cases.

He also cited 21 isolation intensive-care beds and additional capacity at designated facilities.

Duale said contacts were being monitored throughout the virus’s incubation period, which ranges from two to 21 days. Those completing the monitoring period would be cleared to return home if they remained symptom-free and met the required clinical protocols.

He said Kenya would only be declared Ebola-free after 42 days without a new confirmed case, in line with World Health Organization guidance.

Duale also thanked the United States government, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization for supporting Kenya’s response.

He rejected claims that the outbreak had prompted travel, trade or tourism restrictions, urging the public to rely on verified information.

Kenya confirmed its first imported case on October 6 after the patient travelled from the DRC through Uganda and arrived in Nairobi on October 3.

According to the Ministry of Health, the country has recorded nine confirmed cases and two deaths, with all cases linked to the same cluster and no evidence of wider community transmission.

The Ebola outbreak had recorded 9,847 confirmed cases and 4,761 confirmed deaths worldwide as of 23 October 2026, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Democratic Republic of Congo accounted for 9,816 cases and 4,757 deaths, while Kenya reported nine cases and two deaths. Uganda had recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths, alongside one probable case and one probable death, while Nigeria reported one confirmed case and France one, with no deaths recorded in either country.