Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case after its citizen, who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), died in Nairobi on Monday night after a trip on public transport.
The death exposes lapses in disease screening and surveillance at the main Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, amid risks of ripple effects on the sensitive tourism sector.
The confirmation means that Kenya now becomes the third country to record a case linked to the Ebola epidemic in eastern Congo, which has so far registered more than 8,000 cases. Uganda reported 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the year but was declared Ebola-free.
The Ministry of Health on Tuesday confirmed that a Kenyan man who had lived in the DRC for seven years had tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola after travelling from the DRC to Uganda’s capital, Kampala, by road and then flying to Nairobi on Saturday. The patient later died while receiving treatment at a Nairobi hospital.
‘The Ministry of Health has confirmed Kenya’s first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus. The patient fell ill about a month ago and received treatment at several hospitals in the DRC,’ announced Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale. ‘He travelled by road to Kampala before boarding Jambojet flight 8523 to Nairobi, arriving on Saturday, October 3 at 13:10.’
After arriving at JKIA, the patient passed through health screening and was later taken by a relative to Nairobi Hospital. He was admitted with fever, chills and bleeding beneath the skin and was quickly placed in isolation, Mr Duale said.
The incident has raised health safety concerns with the government now tracing the 23 passengers and four crew who were on the Jambojet flight, in addition to the 28 contacts already identified. Those considered at risk will be quarantined for 21 days.
The case is also likely to trigger jitters in the Kenyan tourism sector, especially if more Ebola cases are detected. Past outbreaks in Central and West Africa have historically triggered a broader “fear factor” that impacts tourism.
Jambojet, whose Entebbe-Nairobi flight carried the patient, said it was working with the Ministry of Health to identify and manage passengers and crew who may have been exposed.
‘The health and safety of our guests, crew and staff remains our highest priority,’ the airline said, urging passengers to rely on information from its verified channels and health authorities.
Jambojet resumed its daily flights between Nairobi and Entebbe after a six-year hiatus on October 1, and later carried the Ebola victim two days later.
It had entered the Nairobi-Entebbe route in 2018 but suspended it nearly two years later as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted international travel.
Before the Ebola case, Jambojet was optimistic that the route would benefit from recovering passenger and commercial traffic between the two countries, with cross-border passenger traffic projected to exceed 300,000 travellers in 2026.
The case comes at a time when the country is seeking to protect its tourism industry, which recorded strong growth last year. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, international visitor arrivals rose by 6.2 percent to 2.55 million in 2025, while hotel bed-night occupancy jumped 12.6 percent to 11.56 million.
Even before the country had recorded a case, tourism stakeholders had already raised concerns in June that reports and social media posts linking Kenya to Ebola were affecting travel decisions.
‘Misinformation is causing unnecessary travel cancellations and threatening the recovery of the country’s tourism sector,’ said John Ololtua, Tourism Principal Secretary, at the Kenya Association of Travel Agents’ annual meeting in Mombasa.
At the time, the government said it had intensified surveillance at ports of entry and was running a communications campaign to counter misinformation and maintain confidence among travellers.
The case has also drawn renewed attention to Kenya’s preparedness facilities, including the controversial US-backed Ebola quarantine facility proposed in Laikipia earlier this year.
Although the US government had committed $13.5 million towards Kenya’s Ebola preparedness, construction of the facility was later suspended following a court dispute.
Currently, the United States classifies Kenya as a Level Two travel destination, advising travellers to exercise increased caution due to risks including crime, kidnapping, terrorism, civil unrest, health issues and traffic safety.