Kenya releases 20 Ebola contacts from quarantine as the WHO launches the TUMAINI vaccine trial in DR Congo

Twenty people linked to Kenya’s first Ebola case have gone home after completing a 21-day quarantine, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on 27 October, while 98 other contacts remain under monitoring. The release comes as a vaccine trial named TUMAINI began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the Bundibugyo-strain outbreak originated.

Kenya: nine confirmed cases, two deaths

According to the WHO, as relayed by UN News, the 20 people were discharged on Monday 26 October after showing no symptoms during the mandatory monitoring period. They underwent a final health assessment and counselling on precautions after discharge. “We ask communities to welcome them home warmly,” said Dr Patrick Amoth, Kenya’s director general for health, adding that after 21 days without symptoms they “pose no risk of infection to anyone”.

Kenya confirmed its first case on 6 October: a Kenyan man who had been working in the DRC, flew back via Uganda on 3 October and died in a Nairobi hospital two days later. The Ministry of Health traced everyone who may have been exposed, including relatives, airline passengers and crew, airport workers and medical staff, and by 22 October all contacts, in Kenya and abroad, had been placed in quarantine.

Eight contacts have since developed symptoms and tested positive in the laboratory, and were moved to the Ebola treatment centre in Nairobi. Kenya has now reported nine confirmed cases and two deaths. The WHO says all belong to one connected group and that there is no evidence of spread in the community. The agency is supporting Kenya with coordination, surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing, case management, infection control and screening at points of entry.

TUMAINI vaccine trial in the DRC

In the DRC, a clinical trial launched on Friday 23 October will test whether vaccines can protect against Bundibugyo virus disease. Dr Meg Doherty, director of the WHO’s Department of Science for Health, speaking from Bunia, said the platform uses ring vaccination, in which contacts of a confirmed patient are immunised, and can evaluate several candidates within one framework. “Tumaini” means “hope” in Swahili.

The first product under evaluation is Ervebo, which has worked against Ebola caused by the Zaire virus; it is not yet known whether it protects against the Bundibugyo strain. Four people were vaccinated at the launch, and two rings are in place with more being prepared. Doherty said people were already walking into the site to ask to be enrolled. The trial is led by Congolese authorities and run by the national institute known by its French acronym IRNRB. Results are expected to take several months.

The WHO has no licensed vaccine or specific treatment for Bundibugyo virus disease, and stresses that early detection and supportive care improve chances of recovery. Last week it convened technical advisory groups to review two vaccines designed for this strain, ChAdOx1 (University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India) and mRNA-1469 (Moderna), with recommendations due to be published this week.

Background

The DRC declared the outbreak on 15 May and its caseload is approaching 10,000. Geopolitiki has reported on the latest figures in Ebola in DR Congo reaches 9,765 cases and 4,727 deaths as the WHO warns against easing the response and on the earlier spread abroad in Nigeria confirms first Ebola case as WHO tracks 44 contacts and the Congo outbreak spreads to an eighth province.

The facts above come from the UN’s reporting of WHO statements: UN News, 27 October 2026.