Ebola Virus: Understanding the Threat in Kenya

Jun 12, 2025 0

Ebola is a severe and often fatal illness in humans and other primates. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through direct contact with the body fluids of an infected person, or with contaminated materials.

Ebola Virus Structure

Kenya has been on high alert following outbreaks in neighboring countries. Health officials in Kenya have called for increased awareness about the disease and improved follow-up procedures if symptoms are observed.

Ebola Outbreaks: A Historical Perspective

The World Health Organization (WHO) established its Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, and other public health measures were instituted in areas at high risk, learning from failed responses, such as during the 2000 outbreak in Uganda.

Here's a summary of notable Ebola outbreaks:

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1976 Zaire Ebola Virus Outbreak: Occurred in Yambuku and surrounding areas in what was then Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC).
1976 Sudan Virus Outbreak: Occurred in Nzara and Maridi. Index cases were workers in a cotton factory, spread by close contact with acute cases, usually from patients to their nurses.
1994 Ebola Outbreak: Occurred in Makokou and gold-mining camps deep in the rainforest along the Ivindo River.
1995 Ebola Outbreak: Occurred in Kikwit and surrounding areas, traced to a patient who worked in a forest adjoining the city.
1996 Ebola Outbreak: First strain occurred in the village of Mayibout 2 and neighboring areas after villagers ate a chimpanzee found dead in the forest.
2001-2002 Ebola Outbreak: Occurred on both sides of the border between Gabon and the Republic of the Congo (RC).
2004 Ebola Outbreak: Occurred in Yambio county in Western Equatoria of southern Sudan (present-day South Sudan).
2007 Ebola Outbreak: Occurred in the Bundibugyo District in western Uganda.
2014 West African Ebola Virus Epidemic: The most severe Ebola outbreak in recorded history in regards to both the number of human cases and fatalities.
2014 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola Virus Outbreak: Occurred in Équateur province.
2020 Équateur Province Ebola Outbreak: An additional Ebola outbreak, separate to the ongoing Kivu Ebola epidemic, was announced on 31 May 2020.
2022 Uganda Ebola Outbreak: Declared on 20 September 2022 in Mubende District, Uganda. Seventy-seven people died, with a total of 164 cases detected.

These outbreaks highlight the persistent threat of Ebola and the importance of preparedness and response efforts.

Key Ebola Outbreaks: A Timeline

Map of Ebola Virus Disease Outbreaks

Recent Developments in Kenya

Kenya has been on high alert after a patient suspected to have Ebola was treated at St. Mary’s Hospital. The man had recently traveled to Uganda and visited a health facility there for treatment of a cut. He is now in an isolation unit at St. Mary’s Hospital.

Last week, Kenya issued health guidelines, including screening travelers from Uganda, following the outbreak. Health officials in Kenya called for more awareness about the disease and better follow-up if symptoms are witnessed. Ebola is a disease spread through contact with an infected person’s body fluids.

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Ebola Virus Strains and Related Viruses

Besides Ebola, other related viruses have also been identified:

Reston Virus (RESTV): Introduced into quarantine facilities in Virginia and Pennsylvania by monkeys imported from the Philippines.
Taï Forest Virus (TAFV): Approximately one week after conducting necropsies on infected western chimpanzees in Taï National Park, a scientist contracted the virus and developed symptoms similar to those of dengue fever.
Marburg Virus: In the 1980s, two visitors to Kitum Cave in Mount Elgon National Park contracted Marburg virus disease.

These instances underscore the importance of monitoring and studying various filoviruses to understand their potential impact on public health.

Ebola Vaccine Development

February 2020 ACIP Meeting - Welcome & Ebola Vaccine

During the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, Ebola vaccine development was accelerated. Healthy adult volunteers were randomized to receive one of four 2-dose vaccination schedules. The first vaccination was administered at baseline (Ad26.ZEBOV or MVA-BN-Filo), followed by the second vaccination with the alternate vaccine after either 28 or 56 days. Each schedule had a placebo comparator group. Seventy-two volunteers were randomized into 4 groups of 18 (15 received vaccine, and 3 received placebo).

The most frequent solicited systemic adverse event was headache (frequency, 50%, 61%, and 42% per dose for MVA-BN-Filo, Ad26.ZEBOV, and placebo, respectively). The most frequent solicited local AE was injection site pain (frequency, 78%, 63%, and 33% per dose for MVA-BN-Filo, Ad26.ZEBOV, and placebo, respectively). No differences in adverse events were observed among the different vaccine regimens.

Anti-Ebola virus glycoprotein immunoglobulin G binding antibody responses (detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]) binding antibody responses (A) and virus neutralizing antibody (VNA) responses (B) following dose 1 vaccination with Ad26.ZEBOV (Ad26) or MVA-BN-Filo (MVA) and heterologous dose 2 vaccination with MVA or Ad26 on day 29 or day 57, 21 days after dose 2. Data are geometric mean concentration (GMC), for ELISA, and geometric mean 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50), for VNA analysis. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

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Durability of anti-Ebola virus glycoprotein immunoglobulin G binding (A) and neutralizing (B) antibody responses following dose 1 vaccination with Ad26.ZEBOV (Ad26) or MVA-BN-Filo (MVA) and heterologous dose 2 vaccination with MVA or Ad26 on day 29 or day 57. Data are geometric mean values; error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

Kitum Cave and Marburg Virus

Kitum Cave is located in Mount Elgon National Park, near the Kenyan border with Uganda. In the 1980s, two European visitors contracted Marburg virus disease there.

Despite sampling a wide variety of species (including fruit bats), no Marburg disease-causing viruses were found and the animal vector remained a mystery. In September 2007, similar expeditions to active mines in Gabon and Uganda found solid evidence of reservoirs of Marburg disease-causing virus in cave-dwelling Egyptian fruit bats.

The Ugandan mines both had colonies of the same species of African fruit bats that colonize Kitum Cave, suggesting that the long-sought vector at Kitum was indeed the bats and their guano.