By Milliam Murigi
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has urged Saudi Arabia to lift travel restrictions imposed on Kenya following an Ebola outbreak, saying that the country has contained its cluster and should not continue to face broad travel measures.
Speaking during a press briefing on November 5, 2026, Dr. Wessam Mankoula, Director, Centre of Public Health Emergency at Africa CDC and lead of the Continental Incident Management Support Team (IMST) for Ebola Response, called on Saudi Arabia to review its restrictions in consultation with the Kenyan government, Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO).
He also urged other countries to avoid introducing similar measures without clear public health justification, warning that blanket travel restrictions could penalize countries that report outbreaks transparently.
“An imported case is not evidence of failed health security,” he said, arguing that countries should be judged by their ability to detect, report and respond to cases rather than face blanket restrictions.
According to Mankoula, once the two remaining patients who are awaiting their second negative test results are discharged, the country will begin its 42-day countdown towards being declared Ebola-free.
Under the established Ebola outbreak-ending procedure, the countdown is based on the last confirmed case testing negative twice, with the required interval between tests.
“What has happened in Kenya is a good model. We commend the healthcare authorities in Kenya on early detection, identifying the contacts, putting them in quarantine and communicating with the countries that received contacts who travelled outside the country,” he said.
Dr. Mankoula urged other African countries to adopt similar approaches, saying an imported case should not trigger panic where adequate preparedness and response systems are in place.
Despite praising Kenya’s response, Africa CDC warned that preparedness gaps across the continent could undermine efforts to contain future Ebola outbreaks.
Dr. Mankoula said a recent preparedness assessment conducted in collaboration with WHO found that only three of the 31 countries that responded had adequate capacity to manage Ebola threats.
“Seventeen countries had moderate capacity, while 11 had limited capacity. Three critical areas were particularly weak, with infection prevention and control, case management and logistics recording capacity levels below 50 per cent,” he said.
The other assessed pillars, include coordination, rapid response teams, community awareness and surveillance, had moderate capacity ranging between 50 and below 80 per cent. Africa CDC will continuing to follow up with the remaining 24 countries to establish their preparedness levels.
According to Mankoula, every country needs strong surveillance systems, screening at points of entry, adequate laboratory testing capacity and designated facilities to manage suspected and confirmed cases.
He also called for investment in personal protective equipment, training for healthcare workers, contact tracing, community engagement, logistics and safe and dignified burials.
“The spread of cases beyond the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including to Kenya and Nigeria, which were initially not considered among the countries at highest risk, demonstrates the need for countries to strengthen their preparedness,” he added.
Africa CDC also called on international donors to accelerate the disbursement of funds pledged towards health emergency preparedness and response.
Dr. Mankoula revealed that approximately US$1 billion of the US$3 billion pledged had so far been disbursed, urging development partners to turn their commitments into actual funding.
“We need to move from one billion dollars disbursed to the three billion dollars that has been pledged. We need to move them into disbursement,” he said.
He said adequate financing was essential to enable countries to strengthen their health systems and respond quickly when imported cases are detected.
The funding concerns come as the DRC continues to grapple with a major Ebola outbreak. Figures presented during the briefing showed that the country had reported 10,668 confirmed cases, 5,198 confirmed deaths and more than 2,880 recoveries. Infections among healthcare workers had reached 420.
The outbreak has expanded from three affected health zones at the beginning of the response to 67 health zones across eight provinces.
The growing geographical spread according to Mankoula demonstrates why African countries could not afford to delay investments in surveillance, laboratory capacity and emergency response systems.
