Kenya records third Ebola case, linked to first patient who died

Nairobi says 65-year-old female patient in quarantine with Bundibugyo strain; no signs of community transmission.

Health workers and officials stand outside an Ebola isolation facility in Kenya, October 7, 2026 [File: Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo]

Kenya has recorded its third case of the Bundibugyo virus disease – a strain of Ebola that has killed thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – 10 days after reporting its first case and death in Nairobi.

The latest confirmed case – a 65-year-old woman – was a “primary contact and a close relative of the first and second cases”, Kenya’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Friday, adding that the patient has been in quarantine since October 6.

list 1 of 3 Why single Ebola death in Kenya has prompted fears of wider African spread

list 2 of 3 Kenyan patient suspected of Ebola infection tests negative

list 3 of 3 Ebola spreads in eastern DRC as Kenya confirms imported case

After developing symptoms, she was isolated and then tested positive for the virus, it added in a statement.

“Once she developed fever, sore throat and malaise, she was isolated and specimen collected for testing. She tested positive for Ebola,” the Health Ministry said. “She was diagnosed early and is currently receiving ⁠⁠supportive care improving her ⁠⁠chances of recovery.”

Kenya’s cases are linked to the Ebola epidemic in the DRC, which is the second-largest on record globally ⁠ ⁠with more than 9,000 cases and over 4,300 deaths since it was officially detected in May.

Kenya’s ⁠⁠first case emerged last ⁠⁠week after a Kenyan man, who had been ill in the DRC about a month before travelling by road ‌‌to Uganda, flew to Nairobi on October 3, where a relative drove him to ‌‌the ‌‌hospital. He died on October 5.

In its statement on X, the Health Ministry moved to reassure the public that there was no community spread of the disease and that the risk to the Kenyan public remained low.

Out of 130 contacts listed, 127 had been traced and were in quarantine, it said.

Efforts to control the spread of the Ebola outbreak have been complicated because the Bundibugyo strain has no licensed vaccine. Research is under way to develop one or more vaccines that work against the strain and some of these vaccines are already in the early phases of testing in humans.

A nurse wears personal protective equipment (PPE) at a Nairobi hospital isolation facility that is preparing to screen patients exposed to Ebola, October 7, 2026 [AFP]

Transparency demands over Ebola response funds

The new case in Kenya was reported as Africa’s ‌‌top public health body and Congolese health authorities called ⁠⁠for greater transparency in how Ebola response funds are used.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said financial information provided by aid organisations indicated that ⁠⁠more than $700m of donor money was unaccounted for.

Dr Jean Kaseya, the director general of ‌‌the Africa CDC, told the Reuters news agency that international donors disbursed about $962m to organisations ⁠⁠implementing Ebola response activities in DRC, rather ⁠⁠than to the government.

Kaseya said those organisations reported receiving $228m, of which $127m had ⁠⁠been spent and roughly $100m remained available.

But he said it was too early to speak of embezzlement.

In a post on X, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba warned aid groups were required to provide details on funding ‌‌sources to his ministry or risk being barred from working ‌‌in ‌‌DRC and blacklisted across Africa.

Meanwhile, on the ground in the DRC, Ebola cases have been detected in a new province bordering the Central African Republic, two health officials told Reuters on Thursday.

The two cases were confirmed in North Ubangi, the eighth Congolese province affected by the Bundibugyo outbreak, the officials said. Congolese authorities have not yet officially announced the outbreak has spread to North Ubangi.

内罗毕方面表示，一名65岁女性患者因感染邦迪布焦毒株而被隔离；目前没有社区传播迹象。

2026年10月7日，肯尼亚，卫生工作者和官员站在埃博拉隔离设施外。[图片：Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo]

肯尼亚在内罗毕报告首例病例和死亡病例 10 天后，记录了第三例邦迪布焦病毒病病例——该病毒是埃博拉病毒的一种毒株，已在刚果民主共和国（刚果（金））造成数千人死亡。

肯尼亚卫生部周五在一份声明中表示，最新确诊病例是一名 65 岁的女性，她是“第一例和第二例病例的密切接触者和近亲”，并补充说，该患者自 10 月 6 日以来一直处于隔离状态。

列表 1/3：为何肯尼亚一例埃博拉死亡病例引发了人们对埃博拉疫情在非洲更广泛传播的担忧？

名单中第二名疑似感染埃博拉病毒的肯尼亚患者（共3人）检测结果呈阴性

埃博拉疫情在刚果民主共和国东部蔓延，肯尼亚确诊输入病例（共3例，此为第3例）

声明还补充说，她出现症状后被隔离，随后病毒检测呈阳性。

卫生部表示：“她出现发烧、喉咙痛和全身不适症状后，立即被隔离并采集样本进行检测。她的埃博拉病毒检测结果呈阳性。她得到了早期诊断，目前正在接受支持性治疗，康复几率正在提高。”

肯尼亚的病例与刚果民主共和国的埃博拉疫情有关，这是有记录以来全球第二大埃博拉疫情，自 5 月份正式发现以来，已有超过 9000 例病例和 4300 多人死亡。

肯尼亚首例病例出现在上周，一名肯尼亚男子在前往乌干达之前约一个月曾在刚果民主共和国生病，10月3日乘飞机抵达内罗毕，之后由一位亲戚开车送他去医院。他于10月5日去世。

卫生部在关于X的声明中向公众保证，该疾病没有在社区传播，肯尼亚公众面临的风险仍然很低。

报告称，在列出的 130 名密切接触者中，已有 127 人被追踪到并正在隔离。

由于邦迪布焦毒株目前尚无获批疫苗，控制埃博拉疫情蔓延的努力变得异常复杂。目前正在开展研究，以开发一种或多种针对该毒株的疫苗，其中一些疫苗已进入人体试验的早期阶段。

2026年10月7日，一名护士在内罗毕一家医院的隔离设施内穿戴个人防护装备（PPE），该设施正在准备筛查接触过埃博拉病毒的患者。[法新社]

埃博拉应对资金透明度要求

肯尼亚出现新病例之际，非洲顶级公共卫生机构和刚果卫生当局呼吁提高埃博拉应对资金使用方面的透明度。

非洲疾病控制和预防中心（非洲疾控中心）表示，援助组织提供的财务信息显示，超过 7 亿美元的捐助资金去向不明。

非洲疾控中心主任让·卡塞亚博士告诉路透社，国际捐助者向在刚果民主共和国实施埃博拉应对活动的组织拨付了约 9.62 亿美元，而不是拨付给政府。

卡塞亚表示，这些组织报告称收到了 2.28 亿美元，其中 1.27 亿美元已被花掉，大约还有 1 亿美元可用。

但他表示，现在谈论挪用公款还为时过早。

刚果（金）卫生部长塞缪尔·罗杰·坎巴在 X 网站上发帖警告称，援助组织必须向其部门提供资金来源的详细信息，否则将面临被禁止在刚果（金）开展工作并被列入非洲黑名单的风险。

与此同时，两名卫生官员周四告诉路透社，刚果民主共和国与中非共和国接壤的一个新省份发现了埃博拉病例。

官员表示，这两例确诊病例均来自北乌班吉省，该省是受邦迪布焦疫情影响的刚果（金）第八个省份。刚果（金）当局尚未正式宣布疫情已蔓延至北乌班吉省。