The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has backed Kenya’s call for Saudi Arabia to urgently review and lift the Ebola-related travel restrictions it has imposed on the country. In a statement issued in Addis Ababa on 3 November 2026, the agency said it respected Saudi Arabia’s sovereign responsibility to protect its population, but that public health measures should be guided by scientific evidence, proportionality, transparency and the International Health Regulations rather than by the presence of imported cases.
Kenya confirmed its first imported case of Ebola virus disease caused by Bundibugyo virus on 6 October 2026. Africa CDC, which has teams on the ground working with the Kenyan government, said the country had recorded nine confirmed cases, including two deaths, all epidemiologically linked to the single imported case. No new confirmed case had been reported since 19 October, and there was no evidence of sustained community transmission. On 3 November, five patients were being discharged after five negative PCR tests and 46 people had completed their 21-day quarantine, while contact tracing, monitoring, laboratory testing and infection prevention measures remained in place.
The agency commended Kenya’s Ministry of Health, under Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, and the country’s health teams for containing transmission within an identified cluster. It said the detection of an imported case was not in itself evidence of a failure of national health security, and that early detection, transparent reporting and effective containment showed the value of investment in preparedness and surveillance. Pointing to the recent detection of an imported Ebola case in France, it said infectious diseases cross borders regardless of geography or economic status, and that scientific standards had to be applied consistently whether a case was detected in Africa, Europe or anywhere else.
Africa CDC said broad travel and visa restrictions that were not justified by a proportionate risk assessment could undermine public health cooperation, disrupt trade and economic activity, affect families and livelihoods, and discourage the timely reporting of future outbreaks. It noted that the World Health Organization’s recommendations for the Bundibugyo Ebola emergency separate targeted measures for confirmed cases, suspected cases and exposed contacts from restrictions on the general travelling population, with containment resting on surveillance, appropriate screening, contact tracing, isolation, infection prevention and cross-border cooperation.
Describing Saudi Arabia as a long-standing friend and partner of Africa, the agency called on the Kingdom to engage urgently with Kenya, Africa CDC and WHO to review and lift the broad restrictions that it said were not supported by current epidemiological evidence, while maintaining any measures that are scientifically justified and proportionate. It also called on other countries to avoid introducing similar restrictions without a sound public health justification, and asked international organisations to support its position.
Africa CDC Director General Dr Jean Kaseya said Kenya had shown that African countries could detect imported Ebola cases, respond decisively and protect their populations, and that transparency should not be punished. He said the world became safer when countries cooperated to stop outbreaks than when affected countries were isolated, and called on Saudi Arabia for a decision guided by science, solidarity and proportionality.
The agency also appealed for stronger financial and technical support for the outbreak response, saying that of 3 billion pledged by donors, around 1 billion had been disbursed, and urged Saudi Arabia and other donors to back the fundraising effort. It said it would continue to support Kenya through technical cooperation, laboratory strengthening, surveillance, infection prevention and cross-border coordination, and would work with Kenya, Saudi Arabia, WHO and other partners to facilitate scientific dialogue.
