Kenya begins countdown towards end of Ebola after last patient discharged

Healthcare workers in Kenya train for Ebola prevention and response.

Kenya began a 42-day countdown to the end of its Ebola outbreak on Thursday, a day after the last patient being treated for the disease went home and 11 people were released from quarantine.

Authorities will now monitor the situation for 42 days before the country can be officially declared free of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo species.

The development comes more than a month after Kenya confirmed its first case, which was linked to the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“ Forty-two days is twice the longest incubation period of the virus. If no new case is recorded in that period, Kenya will be declared free of Ebola on 23 December 2026,” said Aden Duale, Cabinet Secretary for Health, speaking in the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday.

The UN World Health Organization ( WHO ) congratulated Kenya on the milestone but stressed the need to remain vigilant.

Authorities should keep up disease surveillance, screen patients in health facilities and strengthen laboratory capacity and health worker preparedness so that any new cases are identified and controlled quickly, said Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo, Director for Programme Management at the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

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