Kenya has discharged its last Ebola patient. The Ministry of Health also released the final 11 people quarantined during contact tracing, The Eastleigh Voice reported. Health CS Aden Duale said all seven patients who tested positive and survived have now recovered. All identified contacts have also completed their monitoring.
"Today, with the discharge of the last patient, we can confirm and tell the world that 7 patients have recovered and all contacts have completed their follow-up monitoring," Duale said. Day one of the 42-day countdown is Thursday, November 12. If no new case is reported in that period, Kenya will be declared Ebola-free on December 23, 2026. Duale explained that 42 days is twice the virus's longest incubation period.
Kenya recorded nine infections and two deaths. The first case was detected on October 3. According to NTV Kenya, a Kenyan man tested positive and died after arriving from DR Congo. Citizen Digital reported that no new infection has been recorded since October 19. The ministry traced all 135 contacts of the imported case. Those in quarantine went home in batches after 21 days of monitoring.
Surveillance will continue throughout the countdown. Rapid response teams will stay on alert in every county. More than 760,000 travellers have been screened at Kenya's 26 points of entry, and screening will go on. Survivors will receive follow-up care. Incident management teams will carry out an initial review of the response. A full review will follow once the outbreak is declared over.
Duale warned that Ebola is still active in DR Congo. The health and foreign affairs ministries will issue an advisory in the coming days for Kenyans returning from DR Congo and other affected areas. It will require a health declaration through the ministry's chatbot before travel, screening on arrival and 21 days of quarantine.
The CS also urged countries that imposed travel and visa restrictions on Kenya to lift them. He said Kenya has no patients under treatment, no contacts under monitoring and no community transmission. "Transparency must be rewarded, and not punished," he said. He thanked the KDF, the police, county governments, WHO, Africa CDC, UNICEF, IGAD, the United States, India and Rwanda.
The response also drew complaints. Citizen Digital reported that some people placed in quarantine said they felt stripped of their dignity. They described living in fear while waiting for repeated negative tests.