Kenya has discharged its last Ebola patient, leaving no one under treatment and no contacts in quarantine for the first time since the country confirmed its first case 37 days ago. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced the discharge on 11 November, and the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a 42-day countdown to an Ebola-free declaration began on Thursday 12 November.

“He has been discharged healthy and free of the virus,” Duale said at Afya House in Nairobi, according to the WHO Regional Office for Africa. The final 11 contacts under monitoring also returned home the same day after completing their follow-up in good health.

Seven recoveries, two deaths

Kenya confirmed its first case of Bundibugyo virus disease on 6 October 2026, in a Kenyan traveller who had returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda. The outbreak produced nine confirmed cases in total. Seven patients recovered — five were discharged on 3 November, a sixth on 6 November and the last on 11 November — while two people died, including the first patient and his mother.

The last case was confirmed on 19 October, and no new infection has been recorded since. Health officials traced 135 contacts linked to the initial case, and all were monitored. According to the Ministry of Health, all nine confirmed cases were linked to the first patient’s contact list, indicating that the virus did not spread into the wider community.

What the 42-day countdown means

The 42-day period is twice the longest incubation period of the virus. If no new case is recorded during that time, Kenya will be declared free of Ebola on 23 December 2026, Duale said. The WHO congratulated Kenya on the milestone, while stressing that surveillance must continue until the countdown ends.

Kenya is keeping prevention measures in place in the meantime. Reuters reported that the government will now require citizens arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to undergo a 21-day quarantine, reflecting the large outbreak still under way there, where the disease was declared in May.

A first for Kenya

The outbreak was Kenya’s first experience of Ebola, and the response was closely watched across the region. The five patients discharged on 3 November were, in Duale’s words, “the first Kenyans ever to recover from this disease”. Treatment took place at Kenyatta National Hospital and The Nairobi Hospital, with support from WHO teams.

For now, the milestone is a cautious one. Health officials say the country can only claim victory once the countdown runs its full course without a new case — but after five weeks without a fresh infection, Kenya has cleared the hardest part of the outbreak.