Kenya Traces Air Passengers After First Ebola Death From Strain With No Approved Vaccine or Treatment

Officials are monitoring identified contacts for 21 days after confirming the rare Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or specific treatment

Healthcare Worker in Protective Equipment — A healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment. Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case and is tracing people who may have had contact with the patient. CDC/Pexels

Kenyan health authorities are tracing passengers and crew who travelled with the country's first confirmed Ebola patient, after the man died in Nairobi days after arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The case involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment. The confirmation has prompted heightened vigilance in Kenya as officials work to identify anyone who may have been exposed during the patient's cross-border journey.

Kenya Traces Passengers and Crew From Kampala Flight

The patient, a Kenyan citizen who had been living in the DRC for seven years, arrived in Nairobi on Saturday after travelling by road from Ituri province in the DRC to Kampala.

He then boarded Jambojet flight 8523 from Kampala to Nairobi, landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at around 1.10 pm, according to Kenya's Health Ministry.

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said authorities have identified 28 contacts, including family members and healthcare workers who treated the patient. Officials are also pursuing 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight. Arrangements are being made to quarantine those considered at risk.

The contacts will be monitored for 21 days, the Health Ministry said.

What Happened After the Patient Arrived in Nairobi?

The man had reportedly fallen ill about a month before reaching Kenya and had been treated at several hospitals in the DRC.

After landing in Nairobi, he went through routine public health and immigration screening at the airport. A relative and a friend then drove him to Nairobi Hospital, where he was isolated after arriving with symptoms including fever, chills, severe fatigue, muscle pain, a sore throat and bleeding beneath the skin at injection sites.

Doctors suspected viral haemorrhagic fever because of his symptoms and recent travel history. Samples subsequently tested positive for Bundibugyo Ebola at the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).

The patient received supportive treatment but died on Monday night.

Ebola Virus Under the Microscope — A microscopic image of Ebola virus. Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case, involving the rare Bundibugyo strain, as authorities trace passengers and other contacts of the patient. Charles Humphrey, Brian W.J. Mahy, BSc, MA, PhD, ScD, DSc, USCDCP

Why Is Bundibugyo Ebola Different?

The strain behind the case adds another challenge to efforts to contain the virus.

Unlike some other ebolavirus species, there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for Bundibugyo Ebola. Vaccine and treatment trials are under way in the DRC's Ituri province, the epicentre of the current outbreak.

That does not mean everyone who travelled alongside the patient is infected.

Ebola is primarily transmitted through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, or through materials contaminated with those fluids. Symptoms can include fever, severe weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea, while severe cases can involve internal or external bleeding.

The current outbreak began in the DRC and has since resulted in cases outside the country, including in Uganda and now Kenya. Kenya had never previously recorded an Ebola case.

Kenya Expands Ebola Surveillance

Kenya had already increased surveillance before its first case was detected.

As of Tuesday, the Health Ministry said it had screened 652,584 travellers and trained approximately 4,971 healthcare workers at national and county levels. Testing capacity has also been established across several laboratories and mobile facilities near border areas.

Crucially, authorities had reported only one positive test belonging to the patient who died at the time of the announcement.

Duale urged the public not to panic, saying systems were in place to mitigate further spread. The immediate challenge will now be locating the remaining passengers and crew, determining whether they had meaningful exposure, and watching for symptoms during the 21-day monitoring period.

Ebola