Kenya has recorded its first imported case of the Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease.

Ministry of Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale on Tuesday, October 6 said the patient is a Kenyan who had been living in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for the past seven years.

Reports indicate that the patient fell ill about a month ago and was treated in several hospitals while still in DRC.

The patient, CS Duale said, would later travell from DRC to Kampala, Uganda, by road, before boarding a Jambo Jet flight No. 8523, arriving in Nairobi on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at around 1:10pm.

“He underwent the normal public health screening at the Port Health at JKIA. He passed through the immigration desk and was transported by a relative and friend in a Toyota Fielder directly from JKIA to Nairobi Hospital, where he was isolated in a separate room at the Accdent and Emergency area within the hospotal,” Duale said in a press conference.

The patient was later tranfered to the Eastwing Isolation Facility within the hospital.

“The facility was birthed during COVID-19 and it has all the infrastructure, including the HDU, ICU and over 145 beds…. I am ready to take the media this afternoon to go and see that high-end facility,” Daule added.

At the isolation facility, the patient presented with fever, intense fatigue, weakness, muscle pain, soar throats, painful swallowing and bleeding under the skin at the injection site. Based on this symptoms and his history of travel to DRC, the doctors considered his case as that of a viral haemorrgic fever. Samples were collected for testing, which turned positive for Ebola Bundibugyo Virus Disease.

“The patient was given supportive treatment but regrettably pased on last night at around 11:30pm,” Daule noted. “Arrangement for safe and dignified burial of the deceased are ongoing. The burial is planned for later today inline with the ebola safe and dignified public health protocols.”

So far, the Ministry of Health has listed 28 contacts of the deceased, including family members and healthcare workers who attended to the deceased. The Ministry is also pursuing the 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight with the deceased.

The CS said that arrangements for the quarantine of those who came in contact with the deceased and at risk has been prepared.