Ruto Issues Fresh Ebola Orders After Patient Dies in Kenya
President William Ruto has stepped up Kenya’s response to Kenya’s first confirmed imported Ebola case after a patient sadly passed away while in treatment in Nairobi.
Ruto has told the National Security Council Committee (NSCC) to take a close look at the situation and come up with some suggestions for how to better protect the country from getting hit by Ebola again.
This came after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale confirmed that on October 6 there had been the first imported case of Ebola Virus Disease in Kenya a Kenyan who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had died on arrival in Nairobi while he was already unwell.
The NSCC then got together and the government cranked up the level of surveillance, contact tracing and testing and all sorts of other public health measures.
The latest government numbers show that 652,584 travellers had been given the once over by health officials and 267 samples tested by October 6 – and only the deceased patient had tested positive.
Eight Family Members and 21 Health Workers Quarantined
Because people at risk of having caught Ebola from the deceased need to be checked out, the authorities have got into action pretty quickly.
Eight of the deceased’s family members have been locked down in quarantine and are having their temperatures taken every day to see if they develop any symptoms.
And then there are the 21 healthcare workers who had to deal with the patient they’ve also been quarantined and are being kept an eye on closely.
The government has also gone further with contact tracing looking beyond the patient’s close contacts to find out about anyone who was on the same flight as the patient when he came into the country.
Kenya Traces Passengers Who Flew With Ebola Patient
So far they’ve found 27 passengers who may have been exposed to the deceased and got in touch with them and public health measures are now being put in place to try and stop any possible secondary spread.
And the people who are being looked at are being kept an eye on in case they start to show any symptoms.
The patient was also buried in line with public health rules to prevent any more possible cases.
The government’s response is building on all the work they’ve been doing to keep an eye out for Ebola since it started back in May 2026 and WHO note that by October 6 Kenya had already screened over 652,000 travellers and tested 267 suspected samples.
Kenya Screens More Than 652,000 Travellers
Kenya’s Ebola surveillance programme has been through 652,584 travellers so far as of October 6.
The health authorities have also tested 267 samples at five different labs.
These labs include the National Virology Reference Laboratory, KEMRI Nairobi, KEMRI Kisumu and two mobile ones that have been set up at the Busia and Lwakhakha border crossings.
Only one of these samples turned out to come back positive which was the deceased patient.
“We’ve not found any more positive cases yet,” says the government.
That means that, as of October 6, authorities had not found another confirmed Ebola case.
Nearly 5,000 Health Workers Trained
The government has not only gotten its act together but also expanded the country’s preparedness to deal with Ebola by sending 4,971 healthcare workers through intensive training sessions on Ebola prevention, detection and management at all levels national and local.
Ebola surveillance and rapid response teams have been rolled out all over the country so that suspected cases get detected early, investigated fast and contained quickly.
The WHO said that Kenya has also gone through the motions and identified/assessed isolation units right across 27 counties where Ebola is a real worry and got its surveillance tools in order strengthened case-management training, community engagement – all the bases covered.
Hospitals Prepare Hundreds of Ebola Treatment Beds
The government has got a list of health facilities that are going to be used to manage Ebola patients if things get worse and more people get infected.
Here are the designated facilities and how many beds they’ve got ready for Ebola patients :
- Kenyatta National Hospital — 8 beds – don’t know what they’ll be doing if someone needs more
- Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital — 50 beds – a bit more capacity but still a long way to go
- The National Police Hospital — 49 beds – same story here – still scratching around for more
- The Nairobi Hospital — 143 beds – now this is looking a bit more hopeful
There are also county isolation centres that have been set up but more facilities are going to be designated and capacity expanded if the situation changes and things get worse.
What Symptoms Should Kenyans Watch For?
The government is trying to keep things from getting out of hand and is urging the public to keep a close eye out for the symptoms associated with Ebola Virus Disease.
So watch out for:
- A high fever
- A severe headache that just won’t go away
- Muscle pain that’s keeping you up all night
- Feeling really weak and lethargic
- Vomiting that’s just not stopping
- Diarrhoea that’s keeping you up all night
- Unexplained bleeding that’s got you worried
If you or someone else is going through these symptoms and especially if you’ve had some contact with someone who’s got Ebola or might have Ebola – get in touch with a hospital and get yourself checked out asap.
The public is also being asked to keep an eye out for people who are displaying symptoms and report any suspected Ebola cases to the health authorities straight away.
Government Urges Kenyans to Remain Calm
Despite Kenya’s first imported case, the government is trying to keep the public calm and not get the whole country into a panic.
What they want you to do is watch where you put your hands and avoid getting too close to people who are showing symptoms of Ebola.
Health authorities are hard at work doing surveillance, tracking down contacts and the Ministry of Health is getting ready to put out some more guidance for individuals and institutions on how to stay safe.
The WHO was there to offer support to Kenya’s Ministry of Health and National Public Health Institute and is working with them on surveillance, training, simulation exercises and all that basically trying to make sure that nobody gets hurt.
So – no more positive cases have turned up yet and the authorities are just waiting to see if anyone who came into contact with the person who died gets the disease before we all have to start panicking.
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Ruto Issues Fresh Ebola Orders After Patient Dies in Kenya
