On 11 November 2026, Kenya’s final Ebola patient left hospital healthy, and the country’s last 11 monitored contacts returned home. For the first time since the outbreak began, no one in Kenya was being treated for the disease or held in quarantine.
The milestone came 37 days after Kenya confirmed its first case of Bundibugyo virus disease, a type of Ebola, on 6 October. The patient had travelled home from the Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda. Kenya’s next test is a 42-day countdown, which began on 12 November. That is twice the virus’s longest incubation period. If no new case is recorded, Kenya can be declared free of Ebola on 23 December, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said.
After the first case was found, contact tracing teams identified all 135 people who had been in close contact with the patient, both in Kenya and abroad. Health workers monitored people in quarantine every day. Eight more people later tested positive: four family members and four health workers who had cared for the first patient before Ebola was suspected. All eight were already in quarantine when they became ill, Duale said, helping prevent the virus from spreading into the wider community.
The last case was confirmed on 19 October, and no new case has been recorded since. Five patients went home on 3 November, in what Duale called the first recoveries from the disease among Kenyans. Another patient was discharged on 6 November. With the final discharge, seven patients have recovered. Two people died, and the World Health Organization (WHO) offered condolences to their families.
WHO praised Kenya’s response, including its timely reporting and coordination. Dr Abdourahmane Diallo, speaking for WHO’s Africa regional director, said the work of health workers helped save lives and stop further transmission. Four health workers were infected while caring for patients. Duale thanked the medical teams, contact tracers, laboratories, hospitals, county governments, families and partner organizations involved in the response.
The countdown does not mean the response is over. Rapid response teams will remain on alert in every county, authorities say, and they will investigate every alert. Survivors will also receive follow-up care and support. Kenya says there are no restrictions on travel, trade, public gatherings or movement within the country. WHO advises against travel or trade restrictions on countries affected by Ebola.
Ebola remains active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the source article reports nearly 11,000 confirmed cases and more than 5,000 deaths. Anyone in Kenya with fever, weakness, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea or unexplained bleeding—especially after travel to an affected area—is urged to seek care early and call 719 free of charge. Kenya’s progress is significant, but officials say the next six weeks will require the same discipline and cooperation that helped contain the outbreak.