Kenya confirms eighth Ebola case as Congo outbreak spreads to another province

A 49-year-old patient attendant who cleaned utensils and linens developed fever, headache and muscle pain on Saturday. He is not a healthcare worker.

His Ebola test returned positive on Sunday, and he was isolated in quarantine. Patrick Amoth, the Director-General for Health, announced the case the same day.

The diagnosis brings Kenya’s confirmed total to eight infections. One person has died from Ebola in the country.

The latest patient was probably exposed to Kenya’s first confirmed Ebola case, a man who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Nairobi. That patient died at a Nairobi hospital on October 5.

On the day the eighth case was confirmed, 38 people were tested and one result was positive for Ebola.

As of 18 Oct 2026, Kenya had tested 353 laboratory samples, with 8 results classified as positive. The country had also screened 685,027 people at entry points and registered 130 contacts through contact tracing. One new confirmed case had been added in the previous 24 hours.

Kenya has been on heightened alert as a major Ebola outbreak centred in Congo has expanded across borders in the region. Congo confirmed on Sunday that the outbreak had reached its eighth province, North Ubangi.