Kenya nears end of Ebola outbreak while DRC cases reach record highs

Kenya has announced that the last Ebola patient has been discharged as of Wednesday, marking the start of a 42-day countdown required for the country to be declared free of the disease. Since early October, nine cases were identified in Kenya, stemming from an initial infection involving a traveler from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Of these, two people died and seven have recovered. Health Minister Aden Duale confirmed that no new cases have been reported since October 19, and the final 11 contacts were released from quarantine on Wednesday. New regulations now require a mandatory 21-day quarantine for travelers arriving from the DRC.

Meanwhile, the DRC is facing its worst Ebola epidemic in history, complicated by ongoing armed conflicts. According to the national health institute (INSP), 11,042 infections and 5,387 deaths have been recorded since the outbreak began in mid-May, resulting in a 48.8% mortality rate. This is the 17th such outbreak in the country, contributing to the widest geographical spread of the virus across Africa to date. While Kenya enters a monitoring phase to ensure total containment, the DRC continues to struggle with the significantly larger scale of the epidemic.