Kenya gazettes new Ebola screening and quarantine rules

Kenya has gazetted new rules governing the screening, medical assessment and quarantine of travelers as authorities strengthen measures to prevent the spread of Bundibugyo Ebola following an imported case.

The Public Health (Ebola Disease) Rules 2026, published in the Kenya Gazette on Monday, outlined public health measures at points of entry, including entry controls and screening, medical assessment, isolation and referral, and monitoring and quarantine.

The regulations also outline the duties of transport operators and provide for inspection and decontamination procedures. Meanwhile, Kenya has recorded no new Ebola cases after conducting 293 tests since the death of its first confirmed patient on Oct 5, the Ministry of Health said on Sunday.

The country confirmed its first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola, after a Kenyan national who had been living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo died in Nairobi. The patient travelled by road from the DRC to Kampala, Uganda, before flying to Nairobi on Oct 3.

The new rules accompany legal notice, in which Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale declared the disease a formidable epidemic disease under the Public Health Act. "The Ebola (Bundibugyo Virus) Disease is hereby declared to be a formidable epidemic disease," the notice stated.

Beyond screening at points of entry, the rules also cover the reporting and testing of suspected Ebola cases, investigations and the tracing of people who may have been exposed to the virus.

They also cover the designation of health facilities to manage Ebola cases, inspection and decontamination of premises, and the safe and dignified handling and burial of people who die from the disease. Other provisions address public communication, awareness campaigns, enforcement assistance, offences and penalties.

Kenya's National Public Health Institute is designated as the lead national technical institution responsible for coordinating prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.

The regulations come amid a regional outbreak in the DRC, where 8,978 confirmed cases and 4,336 deaths had been reported as of Oct 11, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, citing data through Oct 10.