Kenya has discharged its last Ebola patient, starting a 42-day countdown that could end with the country being declared free of the disease just before Christmas. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced the milestone in Nairobi on Wednesday, according to Reuters and Al Jazeera, adding that the final contacts of confirmed patients had also completed monitoring.
The news is a rare piece of good news in a regional outbreak that, according to NBC News and Africanews, has now recorded more than 11,000 cases since it began in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May.
How Kenya’s outbreak unfolded
Kenya’s outbreak began in early October, when a Kenyan man who had travelled from DR Congo through Uganda tested positive and died in a Nairobi hospital, Reuters reported. Health officials later confirmed nine cases in total, all linked to that first patient.
According to Al Jazeera, the index patient passed the virus to four family members and four health workers. He and his mother died, while the other seven patients recovered. Kenya’s last new case was recorded on October 19.
The health ministry said all 135 people identified as contacts of the index case were traced and monitored, and that the nine cases remained in a single cluster with no community transmission, DW reported. The final 11 contacts were released from quarantine on Wednesday after completing 21 days of observation without symptoms.
Kenyan outlet Capital FM reported that the outbreak involved Bundibugyo virus disease, the same Ebola strain driving the epidemic in DR Congo.
Why 42 days?
Under World Health Organization guidelines, a country can only be declared Ebola-free 42 days after the last patient tests negative and is discharged, or after the last victim is safely buried. The period equals two full incubation cycles of 21 days, the longest time it can take for symptoms to appear after exposure.
Capital FM said the countdown officially began on Thursday, November 12. If no new infections are confirmed, Kenya is expected to be declared Ebola-free on or around December 23.
Duale said the government would not lower its guard. Surveillance will continue at border crossings, airports and health facilities during the countdown, according to allAfrica. Reuters reported that Kenyan citizens arriving from DR Congo will now be required to undergo a 21-day quarantine.
Travel restrictions and the regional picture
Kenya has also called on countries that imposed travel or visa restrictions during the outbreak to reconsider them. Al Jazeera reported that the health ministry specifically urged Saudi Arabia to review its measures, arguing that the first case was imported and every later case was traced to the original patient’s contacts.
Elsewhere, the situation remains serious. DR Congo continues to battle its deadliest Ebola outbreak, and Reuters noted that cases have been reported in four countries across eastern, central and western Africa, the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent so far.
Nigeria is among the affected countries. As DW noted, Nigeria recorded a case in a patient who had recently travelled from Uganda, linked to a small cluster. Nigerian health authorities have said they hope the country can be declared free of the disease in early December if no new cases emerge.
What happens next
For the next six weeks Kenyan health officials will watch closely for any new suspected cases, particularly among travellers from DR Congo and Uganda. A single new confirmed infection would reset the countdown.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has described Kenya’s progress as an important achievement for the regional response. Health experts say the speed with which Kenya traced and isolated contacts offers lessons for other countries, including Nigeria, as the wider outbreak continues.
Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera, NBC News, Africanews, DW, Capital FM, allAfrica.
