Kenya has discharged its last Ebola patient, the seventh to recover from the virus, in what officials describe as a major milestone in containing the disease. The discharge on Wednesday starts a 42-day countdown after which the country can be officially declared Ebola-free. Kenya confirmed its first ever case of Ebola early in October, when a Kenyan businessman died within days of arriving in Nairobi. He had caught the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an outbreak that began in May has killed more than 5,000 people. Health Minister Aden Duale told reporters that all identified contacts have now completed their monitoring.
The case for celebrating rests on how tightly Kenya has held the outbreak. All of the Kenyan cases were linked to the one man who travelled from the DR Congo through Uganda, and officials have reported no evidence of wider community transmission. Seven patients recovered, including four healthcare workers. The health minister said 135 identified contacts had completed 21 days in isolation, and Kenya has reported no new confirmed cases since 20 October. Five patients were discharged on 3 November, a sixth three days later and the last on Wednesday. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention called it an important achievement in the regional response, and Kenya has kept screening, electronic health declarations and 21-day quarantine for travellers returning from affected areas.
There are, however, strong reasons for caution. The outbreak is not over in the country where it began, since the DR Congo has recorded more than 5,000 deaths since May. Under World Health Organization rules, 42 days must pass after the last patient tests negative and is discharged before an outbreak can be declared over, and the incubation period ranges from two to 21 days, so exposed people may not fall ill for weeks. Africa CDC chief Jean Kaseya warned that surveillance and vigilance must be sustained until the outbreak is officially declared over. The economic cost has also continued: Saudi Arabia stopped issuing visas to Kenyan nationals in late October, raising concerns among people seeking jobs there, and Duale urged countries that imposed travel and visa restrictions to reconsider them.
Duale said the government would maintain heightened surveillance at border crossings, airports, health facilities and communities throughout the countdown, with emergency response teams on alert. The result matters for East Africa and beyond. Kenya is a regional travel and trade hub, and a contained outbreak there protects neighbours and shows what early detection, contact tracing and quarantine can achieve. It also tests how countries treat travellers from affected regions. Restrictions such as those introduced by some Gulf states affect workers, students and families, and Kenya has said it has no intention of serving as a quarantine centre for another country, noting that a Kenyan court suspended US plans in May to open an Ebola quarantine facility for American citizens.
Kenya has reached a hopeful point, with the last patient home and no new cases for weeks. The countdown is not yet complete, and the outbreak in the DR Congo continues. Vigilance over the next 42 days will decide whether Kenya can declare itself Ebola-free.
