Ministry of Health REPUBLIC OF KENYA | OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR HEALTH | PRESS RELEASE
DAY 32: SIX RECOVERIES AND EIGHTEEN DAYS WITHOUT A NEW CASE AS KENYA NEARS THE FINISH LINE
Nairobi, 6 November 2026
Today marks Day 32 since Kenya confirmed its first imported case of Ebola (Bundibugyo Virus Disease) on 6th October 2026.
The Ministry of Health is pleased to report that the measures put in place are working, and the country is firmly on the path to ending this outbreak.
A sixth (6th) male patient has recovered and is being discharged today, after testing negative and meeting all the criteria for discharge.
Only one (1) patient remains under care and continues to receive treatment and close monitoring.
No new case has been recorded for eighteen (18) days, since 19th October 2026.
The total number of confirmed cases remains nine (9), all from one known chain of transmission, and there has been no spread in the community.
Sixty-six (66) contacts have completed their 21 days of monitoring and returned home, and the remaining fifty-two (52) are expected to complete their quarantine by 11th November 2026.
These results did not happen by chance. Kenya followed the proven steps that stop Ebola:
° find every case early,
° isolate and treat the sick,
° trace and monitor everyone they came into contact with,
° protect health workers, and
° bury the dead safely and with dignity.
° Every person who fell ill after the first case was already under quarantine, which meant the virus had nowhere to go.
The outbreak will end in a clear, internationally agreed way. When the last patient leaves the treatment centre free of the virus, Kenya will begin a 42- day countdown, twice the longest time it takes for the illness to appear. If no new case is recorded in those 42 days, the outbreak will be declared over. Until that day, we must not let down our guard.
The Ministry sincerely thanks everyone who has made this progress possible:
° our doctors, nurses, laboratory, surveillance and burial teams, who worked at great personal risk;
° Community Health Promoters, Public Health Officers and county governments;
° the Kenyatta National Hospital and The Nairobi Hospital; the security agencies; religious and
° community leaders; and
° the media, for sharing accurate information.
We are grateful to the patients and their families, and to the contacts who stayed in quarantine for the sake of their neighbors and the entire country. We also thank our partners, including WHO, Africa CDC, UNICEF, IGAD and friendly governments, for standing with Kenya.
Staying free of Ebola, and of any other outbreak, is everyone's responsibility.
We ask every Kenyan to:
° know the signs (fever, weakness, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea or unexplained bleeding) and seek care early;
° report any sick person or unexplained death in the community;
° avoid touching the blood or body fluids of a sick person, or the body of anyone who has died of an unexplained illness;
° wash hands regularly with soap and water;
° avoid handling sick or dead wild animals or their meat; and
° welcome recovered patients and released contacts without stigma.
Ebola is still active in the region, and outbreaks in one country can quickly reach another. Kenya will keep screening travelers at all twenty-six (26) points of entry, where to date more than 760,000 travelers have been screened, and will keep its emergency operations centers and rapid response teams on alert in every county.
Travelers should truthfully complete the electronic traveler surveillance form on the UHAI Chatbot before arrival, declare any symptoms honestly, and report any illness within 21 days of arrival.
Health workers should ask every patient with fever about travel and contact history and always keep up infection prevention and control measures.
We will continue to work with our neighbors, the East African Community and Africa CDC, because no country is safe until the whole region is safe.
Kenya remains open, with no restrictions on travel, trade or public gatherings. To report a suspected case or seek information, call 719 free of charge or use the Jali WhatsApp chatbot on 0700 719 719.
We are close to the finish line. Let us stay alert, report early and keep working together until Kenya is declared Ebola-free and stays that way.
Dr. Patrick Amoth, CBS | DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR HEALTH
Source: Facebook Page of Kenya's Ministry of Health, https://www.facebook.com/MinstryofHealthKE
____
No comments:
Post a Comment