Health Ministry Suspends Hotel Meetings After Imported Ebola Case

The Ministry of Health has halted all meetings, seminars and conferences scheduled to be held in hotels for staff of its State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards, with immediate effect, following confirmation of an imported case of Bundibugyo virus disease.

Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni issued an internal memo dated Wednesday, October 7, 2026, directing heads of directorates, divisions and programmes within the State Department to stop such gatherings until further notice and to obtain prior approval from her office for any exception.

The memo, which was copied to Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, explains that the suspension is intended to prioritise emergency preparedness, contact tracing and response measures after the case was confirmed on Tuesday, October 6, 2026.

The imported case involved a Kenyan citizen who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for seven years, fell ill, sought treatment, travelled by road to Kampala and then flew to Nairobi, arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on October 3, where he was screened, isolated at Nairobi Hospital and later died despite supportive care for fever, fatigue, muscle pain, sore throat and bleeding at injection sites.

President William Ruto has directed the National Security Council Committee to convene and recommend urgent measures to protect the country from further transmission of the virus.

The State Department clarified that the suspension applies exclusively to its staff and does not constitute a blanket ban on all government meetings, conferences or seminars held in hotels.

Department heads have been instructed to enforce strict compliance, keep technical officers on standby for the emergency response and activate existing standard operating procedures for Ebola and other highly contagious infectious diseases.