Kenya’s Health Ministry announced on Friday, October 23, 2026, that a 65-year-old woman who was a close relative of the country’s first Ebola patient has died in Nairobi. The ministry said she developed symptoms while in quarantine, according to The Hindu. It is the second Kenya Ebola death reported.
According to SCMP, the woman began showing symptoms 10 days before she died and received supportive care at an infectious disease unit in Nairobi. The ministry said medical personnel "did everything possible to save her life." She died on Friday evening. Her family has been notified, and a burial will be arranged in consultation with relatives.
The first case was a 40-year-old Kenyan man living in Congo who travelled via Uganda, according to The Hindu. He arrived in Kenya on October 3, tested positive on October 5 and died the same day at Nairobi Hospital.
Kenyan authorities traced 135 contacts of the first patient and placed 118 of them in quarantine, The Hindu reports. Eight contacts tested positive, including four health workers and four close family members. Seven Ebola patients remain in treatment at two isolation facilities, and no new infections were reported.
Al Jazeera reports that all cases are within one cluster, with no evidence of community spread. It says nine cases have been confirmed, including the two patients who died.
The details of the woman’s death come mainly from the ministry’s statement, as reported by The Hindu and SCMP. No response from the family or from independent experts is reported. No independent or international health body has confirmed the death or the case counts, so these figures are the ministry’s claims as reported.
No source explains how the second patient was infected, or whether she had contact with the first patient before her symptoms began.
The case comes amid a wider outbreak. Nigeria became the fourth African country to report an Ebola case on Tuesday. Its patient, a woman married to a Swiss diplomat, tested positive on her return to Abuja from Uganda. Nigeria’s health minister said her case appears closely related to Kenya’s index case. Nigeria’s transmission route remains unverified, according to the sources.
The Democratic Republic of Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in May. The sources differ on its scale. The Hindu reports at least 4,000 deaths since May. Al Jazeera reports more than 4,600 deaths and 9,000 cases. The figures come from different dates or counting methods, and neither source explains the gap.
Uganda said travellers with a history of travel to the DRC will not be permitted to transit through the country. The United States now requires passengers on international flights to attest that they were not in Congo in the previous 21 days.
The Health Ministry said some contacts who completed the 21-day quarantine without symptoms will be released from Saturday, October 24. Whether that release has taken place is not yet confirmed. The woman’s burial will be arranged with relatives.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.