Kenya announces 2nd Ebola death, close relative of first patient

Kenya's Health Ministry announced the country's second Ebola death on Friday (October 23, 2026), saying a 65-year-old woman who was a close relative of the first patient died after developing symptoms while in quarantine.

The woman began showing symptoms 10 days ago and began receiving supportive care at an infectious disease unit in the capital, Nairobi.

The Ministry said medical personnel "did everything possible to save her life", but she died on Friday (October 23) evening.

Her family was notified, and the Ministry said it would arrange a safe and dignified burial in consultation with relatives.

The remaining seven Ebola patients were receiving treatment at two isolation facilities. No new infections were reported.

Kenya announced its first ever Ebola case on October 6 after a 40-year-old Kenyan man who was living in Congo travelled to Kenya via Uganda, arriving on October 3. He was driven by a relative to Nairobi Hospital, where he tested positive for Ebola on October 5 and died the same day.

Authorities have identified some 135 contacts of the first patient, placing 118 in quarantine. Eight tested positive while in quarantine, including four health workers and four close family members.

The Health Ministry said some contacts who completed the 21-day quarantine period without developing symptoms would be released starting Saturday (October 24).

'Nigerian patient did not travel to Congo'

In Nigeria, authorities said on Friday (October 23) that they were yet to verify how the country's first Ebola patient contracted the disease. The woman tested positive for the virus upon her return to Nigeria's capital of Abuja from Uganda.

The woman — married to a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria whom she had been travelling with — did not visit Congo and "is believed to have contracted the virus whilst travelling to Uganda", Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, or FDFA, told The Associated Press on Friday (October 23).

Her husband has not shown any symptoms and remains in isolation, the FDFA added.

Nigeria's Health Minister Muhammad Pate told reporters on Friday (October 23) that the Nigerian patient "appears to be closely related" to the first case in Kenya in terms of the nature of their infection. "That may or may not change the understanding of the route of transmission given that the virus itself takes time to change," Mr. Pate said.

The Africa CDC earlier said the first patients in Nigeria and Kenya had travelled through Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on October 3.

U.S. introduces new protocol for all travellers

United States health officials this week said that all passengers boarding an international flight to the U.S. — no matter from where — must sign a statement attesting that they have not been in Congo in the previous 21 days. The US has been screening travellers from Ebola-affected countries during the current outbreak.

Travellers who were in Congo in the three weeks leading to their trip will not be allowed to board flights with U.S. destinations, including Americans, the U.S. CDC said on Thursday (October 22).

Ebola is highly contagious and spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, including blood and vomit, or through contact with contaminated materials and surfaces, such as bedding and clothing. Congo is experiencing its deadliest outbreak, with at least 4,000 deaths since May.