Kenya has proposed a ban on bringing home the bodies of Kenyans who die of Ebola abroad, as part of strict new public health regulations now before parliament. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale presented the proposed Public Health (Ebola Disease) Rules, 2026, to the National Assembly Committee on Delegated Legislation on Thursday, 5 November.

Under Regulation 21(2) of the proposed rules, cross-border transport of the remains of Ebola victims would be prohibited. RTG Digital reports the provision states: "A person shall not transfer or repatriate the body of a person who has died of Ebola disease outside Kenya."

For deaths occurring inside Kenya, the rules require bodies to be handled only by trained personnel wearing appropriate protective equipment, placed in sealed, leak-resistant body bags, and buried within 24 hours at a site chosen on public health grounds. Washing, embalming or dressing the bodies for funeral purposes would be banned, and a sealed body bag could not be opened except for an authorised examination or specimen collection.

The regulations also introduce health screening for travellers arriving from Ebola-affected countries, and a 21-day quarantine for contacts, with release possible after two negative diagnostic tests. Duale assured lawmakers that visiting an Ebola-affected country would not on its own be grounds for denying a Kenyan citizen entry, citing the right of citizens to enter the country under the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act.

The rules follow Kenya's first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease, involving a Kenyan citizen who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo through Uganda before arriving in Nairobi, and the country's first Ebola burial, held under tight security at Lang'ata Cemetery on 7 October. The Committee on Delegated Legislation, chaired by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga, will now examine the regulations before recommending whether parliament should approve them as presented or propose changes.