Did he escape? Ebola patient's journey from DRC to Nairobi raises questions

Kenya’s first confirmed Ebola patient may have walked out of a treatment facility in the Democratic Republic of Congo before travelling through Ituri, crossing into Uganda and eventually flying to Nairobi.

This movement has now raised fresh questions over how the patient was able to move through one of the region’s heavily contested areas, while suffering from a highly infectious disease.

The Kenyan national had lived in the DRC for seven years and had been ill for about a month before travelling to Kenya, according to Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale.

“The patient is a Kenyan citizen who has been living in DRC for the past seven years. He fell ill about a month ago and was treated in several hospitals while still in DRC. He travelled from DRC to Kampala by road, then boarded Jambojet flight number 8523 and arrived in Nairobi on Saturday, 3rd October 2026 at 1.10 p.m.”

But information obtained by The Standard points to a complicated journey inside the DRC.

Senior government officials familiar with the investigation said the patient had been in Beni, in the wider Ituri area, where authorities are now trying to establish the exact treatment facility where he was being managed.

The source said investigators are also trying to establish how he travelled from Beni to Bunia, the provincial capital, given the insecurity and presence of armed groups along the route.

“They are confirming where he was being treated because it’s not the same place; it’s a different treatment centre. That’s what they are trying to establish,” he said.

Insiders familiar with details indicate that the movement between Beni and Bunia raises questions because of militia activity along the route.

“Now the question is they are also asking, even the Ugandans, how did this guy manage to travel from Beni to Bunia? Because between the two, there are a lot of militias that operate there.”

It would be difficult for an ordinary traveller to make the journey without assistance or an authorised escort.

One possibility under investigation is whether armed groups could have helped facilitate the patient's movement.

“So he might have been facilitated by the militias, but not the government,” the source said.

Investigators are also examining the procedures normally required for movement along the Beni-Bunia route.

“Before you board any vehicle to be escorted to Bunia, you must be tested by Ugandans. Before any vehicle is escorted from Beni to Bunia, all of them must be tested and the vehicle fumigated,” the insider said.

This raises another question: if the patient had already been treated for an illness that later proved to be Bundibugyo Ebola, how did he pass through the system and continue towards Uganda?

Investigation is also looking at the border crossing used to enter Uganda.

“From Bunia to Uganda, to cross into Uganda, the only possible place is a border point called Goli. And this is in a district called Zombo in Northern Uganda,” said the source.

The movement has also been pointed to other possible routes but with restrictions on some crossings, this would make movement difficult.

“The other one would have been by M23, a place called Butembo and Bunagana. To pass through this part is also very difficult because those border crossings are closed.”

The investigators are also examining whether the patient could have received assistance to cross the border.

“Either he could have paid, or he could have been facilitated through a government, a senior government official in Kenya and Uganda to allow him to cross over into these countries,” said the official.

What has been confirmed, however, is that the patient reached Kampala before boarding Jambojet flight 8523 to Nairobi.

The Ministry of Health said he arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 1.10pm on October 3 and underwent routine public health screening before proceeding to Nairobi Hospital.

Duale said the patient was taken from the airport by a relative and a friend and was quickly isolated after arriving at the hospital.

He was later confirmed to have Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease after samples were tested at the National Virology Reference Laboratory and KEMRI. He died on October 5.

The patient’s journey has, however, now become a critical part of the regional investigation.

More questions are also being raised about how the patient could have passed through Uganda after leaving the DRC.

“In Ituri itself, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has taken control of the treatment centres. The only problem they have is with the militias which have been attacking the centres and releasing sick people,” according to WHO and Africa CDC.

The allegations come against the backdrop of a deteriorating Ebola response in eastern DRC, where insecurity has repeatedly complicated efforts to isolate patients and trace contacts.

WHO has been operating treatment facilities in Ituri, including an Ebola treatment centre in Bunia.

Latest data show 8,603 confirmed Bundibugyo Ebola cases and 4,148 related deaths in the DRC as of October 5, with Ituri accounting for 6,450 cases and 2,968 deaths.

The investigation must now establish exactly where the patient was treated, whether he was formally admitted to an Ebola facility, how he left the facility, who assisted him afterwards and which route he used to reach Uganda.

It must also determine whether any health, security or border authorities encountered him during that journey and what information was available to them at the time.

Kenyan authorities have already begun tracing people who may have been exposed after his arrival. The Ministry initially identified 28 contacts, while 23 passengers and four crew members on the Jambojet flight were also being traced.

The airline has confirmed that it is working with the Ministry of Health and Port Health authorities to identify and manage passengers and crew who may have come into contact with the patient.