On October 5, a Kenyan businessman arrived at Nairobi Hospital with a scary fever and was declared the country’s first confirmed Ebola case. He died two days later.
What made his case weird was that he had just come from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), where an Ebola wave was blowing up, and had also crossed Uganda. His virus slipped past health checks in three countries.
DR Congo
The 40‑year‑old had lived in DR Congo for seven years and visited towns in the Bas‑Uélé province. Researchers say he might have caught the virus there, but they aren’t sure where he first got infected.
In late September he showed fever and rash. Doctors diagnosed a skin infection, not Ebola, because they didn’t test him.
He flew to Kisangani, stayed for ten days, then later went to Beni in North Kivu, a super‑hot spot, and crossed into Uganda on Oct 1.
Uganda
In Uganda he flew from Kampala to Entebbe International Airport and was screened. His temperature was normal, so the airport did not flag him as sick—an example that relying on fever checks can miss someone who is already infected.
Kenya
When he finally arrived in Nairobi, symptoms were severe. An emergency lab confirmed the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.
Kenya has now traced about 66 contacts, but the number could rise as tracing continues in Uganda and DR Congo.
Experts say his case shows how easy it is for the virus to hop from country to country if checkpoints aren’t tight, and how important it is to self‑report if you feel sick.
