Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has appealed to foreign governments not to impose travel or trade restrictions on Kenya following the country’s first confirmed Ebola case, insisting the situation is an isolated, imported infection rather than a domestic outbreak.
Speaking at a Thursday meeting with diplomats, representatives of international organisations and development partners in Nairobi, Duale said Kenya remains safe for travel, tourism, trade and investment. He urged the international community to base any decisions on verified epidemiological information rather than speculation.
The case involves a patient who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Nairobi and was admitted to Nairobi Hospital over the weekend, where he is reported to have died days later. Health officials say contact tracing efforts have so far identified 57 contacts, with those already located placed under monitoring or quarantine while teams continue searching for the rest.
The World Health Organization this week advised against travel or trade restrictions targeting the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Kenya, a position Duale said he hoped partner nations would heed. Some countries have nonetheless updated their travel advisories with Ebola-specific guidance, even as they stop short of discouraging travel to Kenya outright.
On the ground, authorities say screening has been intensified at 15 points of entry across the country, with travellers arriving from ten countries linked to the regional situation facing enhanced checks. At Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, arrivals from affected countries are being directed through a dedicated screening gate. Officials say more than 652,000 travellers have been screened since heightened measures began.
Five health facilities, including Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, the National Police Service Hospital, Port Reitz Hospital and Nairobi Hospital, have been designated for Ebola care, offering a combined 241 beds. The Ministry of Health says nearly 5,000 health workers have been trained in case management, supported by five designated testing laboratories.
To coordinate the response more closely, the government is setting up a national Ebola task force that will oversee contact tracing, border surveillance, public communication and preparedness at treatment centres. Officials say the proposed structure for the task force was discussed at a meeting chaired by a senior Health ministry official this week.
Duale has urged Kenyans to remain vigilant without panicking, directing anyone with concerns to the Ministry of Health’s toll-free line, 719, for verified guidance rather than relying on rumours circulating online.