Kenya has received a $2 million cash grant, about Sh259 million, from China for Ebola response and drought mitigation.
Chinese Ambassador Guo Haiyan signed the handover certificate with National Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo at the Treasury. The Chinese embassy says the money answered a Kenyan request and will fund Ebola outbreak preparedness infrastructure and not a general health budget line.
On 6 October the Ministry of Health confirmed Kenya’s first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease. The patient was a Kenyan man who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for about seven years. He travelled through Uganda, flew into Nairobi, and died on 5 October while isolated at Nairobi Hospital.
The National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute both confirmed the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.
Speaking to the media on 7th October, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale reiterated the need for calm as there was no real danger in the perceived outbreak.
“We don’t have an Ebola outbreak in Kenya, what we have is an imported Ebola incident just like what happened in Germany or France. We have not been caught off-guard as in the case of Covid-19,” said Duale.
The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola is not the Zaire strain that has licensed vaccines and specific treatments. Director General for Health Dr Patrick Amoth said in a 6 October media interview that, unlike Zaire, the Bundibugyo has no vaccine or treatment, and therefore management is mainly supportive. He put early survival at close to half if patients reach care quickly.
“If you report early, we can be able to manage you supportively, and the chances of survival are nearly 50 percent,” said Dr Amoth
Dr Amoth says transmission is by direct contact with a sick person, a body, or a contaminated surface through broken skin or mucous membranes; not by air or droplets.
The Chinese allocation lands on a system that is already spending. Mr Duale says that 4,971 health workers have been trained on Ebola preparedness and response, screening continues at 15 points of entry, and more than 652,000 travellers have been screened by 6th October 2026. Teams have investigated 263 alerts from 17 counties.
Ebola Response And Contact Tracing
After the Nairobi case, contact tracing accounted for 57 people. Of these, 23 are passengers, four crew, and others linked to the aircraft, including cleaners. Designated isolation, treatment and quarantine beds currently stand at 241, with more Ebola response capacity being opened in priority areas, including Busia. Five laboratories, plus mobile capacity, are returning results in about six to 12 hours. Of 268 samples tested, one was positive.
Dr Amoth says the priority is to move with speed, discipline and coordination by intensifying contact tracing and monitoring, strengthening surveillance at points of entry, and ensuring designated isolation and treatment facilities remain ready. He says containment depends on every part of the system working together. From public health surveillance to laboratories and from clinicians, emergency response teams and county structures to clear risk communication to the public.
Dr Amoth says it is concerning the patient passed the automatic thermo-scanner at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and that officials postulate that this patient took some medication to be able to mask some of his symptoms, including lowering his temperature. He asked travellers to answer health forms honestly and told anyone with symptoms to call the toll-free line 719 rather than board a taxi or matatu.
The Chinese grant will cater for isolation upgrades, personal protective equipment, laboratory reagents and county rapid-response capacity in the places the risk assessment already flags.
The World Health Organization had earlier put Kenya’s Ebola response and preparedness score at 82 percent in July, up from 66 percent in May. Duale says Kenya remains safe for travel, tourism, trade and investment, and warned that blanket restrictions would hurt the economy without adding protection.
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