Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that a Somali citizen who had been quarantined over Ebola concerns had been released after two separate tests showed he was not infected and he had completed a full 21-day medical monitoring period without developing any symptoms.
The man was placed in isolation after health officials confirmed that he had had direct contact with a patient infected with the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, who later died in Kenya.
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“In accordance with the statement issued earlier on October 12, 2026, the Ministry is sharing with the Somali public the latest information concerning the Somali citizen who was placed in quarantine,” the Ministry of Health said.
The ministry said the citizen was transferred on Oct. 12 to a facility designated for Ebola quarantine and treatment within Forlanini Hospital in Mogadishu, where he was monitored under procedures for preventing the spread of infectious diseases.
He underwent two Ebola tests, one conducted in Somalia and the other sent abroad for confirmation. Both tests showed that he was not infected, the ministry said.
He also displayed no symptoms of the disease during his quarantine and completed the full 21-day medical monitoring period, which is the longest period used to monitor people suspected of having been in contact with Ebola.
“Taking into account the results of both tests, the completion of the monitoring period, the citizen’s health status and the public health risk assessment … the Ministry of Health has decided to release the citizen from quarantine,” the statement said.
Somalia’s Ministry of Health also stressed that no Ebola cases have so far been detected inside the country.
Minister of Health Dr. Ali Haji Adan said health authorities would continue routine monitoring and follow-up throughout the outbreak in the region.
The concern arose following the first confirmed case of Bundibugyo Ebola in Kenya, an imported case involving a man who had traveled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, passed through Uganda and then arrived in Nairobi on Oct. 3. The man tested positive for the disease on Oct. 5 and was confirmed dead the same day, according to the World Health Organization.
Kenyan health authorities initially identified dozens of people who had been in contact with the man and placed those at highest risk in quarantine. As of Oct. 20, Kenya had reported nine cases of Bundibugyo Ebola, including deaths, all linked to the first imported case, the WHO confirmed.
Somali health authorities have so far reported no Ebola cases inside the country, whether locally transmitted or imported.
