Kenya records second Ebola death as 65-year-old woman dies in Nairobi isolation
Kenya has recorded a second Ebola death after a 65-year-old woman — the country's third confirmed case and a close relative of the first patient — died on Friday evening while in quarantine care in Nairobi.
NAIROBI — Kenya’s health ministry announced late on Friday that a 65-year-old woman has died of Ebola, the country’s second fatality. She was the third confirmed case and a close relative of the first Ebola patient, having developed symptoms while in quarantine (Reuters).
The woman was the country’s third confirmed case of Bundibugyo virus disease. She began showing symptoms on October 13 while already in quarantine, was admitted to an infectious disease unit the same day, and received supportive care before dying on Friday evening (Tuko.co.ke).
“This loss brings the number of deaths to two among the nine confirmed cases. The remaining seven patients continue to receive care in the two isolation facilities,” the ministry said, adding there was no evidence of community spread. Kenyan authorities have traced 135 contacts, all placed in quarantine, and say every case belongs to a single cluster of known contacts (Reuters).
Kenya’s outbreak began this month with a man who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo via Uganda to Nairobi and died at a Nairobi hospital on October 5; samples confirmed the Bundibugyo strain. The disease has infected nearly 10,000 people and killed more than 4,600 in Congo, and the outbreak has now been reported in four African countries — the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date. The Bundibugyo species has no approved treatment or vaccine (Reuters).
Sources
- Reuters — “Kenya reports second death from Ebola” — https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/kenya-reports-second-death-ebola-2026-10-23/
- Tuko.co.ke — “Kenya Records Second Ebola Death as First Victim’s Relative Succumbs” — https://www.tuko.co.ke/kenya/644167-kenya-records-second-ebola-death-victims-relative-succumbs/
- VividVoiceNews — “Kenya Records Second Ebola Death as 65-Year-Old Woman Succumbs” — https://www.vividvoicenews.com/2026/10/23/kenya-records-second-ebola-death-as-65-year-old-woman-succumbs/
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