Ebola outbreak reaches four African countries as Kenya reports second death

The Ebola outbreak now spans four African countries, and Kenya announced a second death on Friday, 23 October.

Al Jazeera reported that the victim was a 65-year-old woman. She developed symptoms while in quarantine. She was a close relative of Kenya’s first fatality. He was a man who travelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and died in a Nairobi hospital on 5 October.

Kenya’s cluster in the Ebola outbreak

Kenya has confirmed nine cases, including both dead patients. Seven people are being treated at two isolation facilities. Authorities have traced 135 contacts, and all are in quarantine. The Health Ministry says every case belongs to one cluster. It says there is no evidence of community spread.

Nigeria reported its first case on Tuesday, 20 October. That made it the fourth African country affected. Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said analysis linked the virus closely to Kenya’s first case. Al Jazeera describes this as the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent.

Where the Ebola outbreak began

The Democratic Republic of the Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in May. Al Jazeera reports more than 9,000 cases and more than 4,600 deaths there since then. Uganda recorded 20 infections and two deaths earlier in the outbreak. It was declared Ebola-free in August.

Contact tracing decides whether a cluster stays a cluster. Kenya’s numbers are small. Yet each quarantined contact is a chain of infection cut short. Health workers and travellers face the greatest risk and the closest scrutiny.

The figures come from national health officials and may be revised. Early counts in outbreaks often rise as testing catches up. We will report new confirmed numbers as they are published.

Humanitarian systems are stretched elsewhere on the continent too. See our report on Sudan drone attacks that killed more than 160.

Fact basis: Al Jazeera (20 and 23 October 2026) and Ahram Online’s report of Nigeria’s first case (October 2026). All figures are attributed to health officials and may change.