Saudi Arabia bans entry to travellers from Kenya
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Kenyans.co.ke
Saudi Arabia has suspended visas and banned entry to travellers arriving from Kenya to limit the risk of Ebola spreading. The measure also applies to people who transited through another country and is part of a health assessment by Saudi authorities, according to Kenyans.co.ke.
Saudi Arabia has suspended travel by its citizens to Kenya, blocked the issuance of all types of visas to travellers from the country and banned their entry into its territory because of the Ebola outbreak, according to Saudi health authorities cited by Kenyans.co.ke. The ban also applies to people arriving from Kenya after transiting through another country.
Riyadh said it had taken these precautionary measures after its health officials assessed the epidemiological situation. Saudi Arabia’s infectious disease risk management system, launched in July 2019, had been strengthened in May 2026 after new Ebola cases emerged, then extended in June to travellers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan.
Kenya confirmed its first case of Ebola Bundibugyo on 6 October, in a man who had arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo via Uganda. By 26 October, the country had recorded nine confirmed cases and two deaths. Eight people, including four contacts of the first patient and four healthcare workers, had also tested positive, while Kenya’s Health Ministry stepped up contact tracing, testing and surveillance at entry points. The decision comes as 46 contacts are due to leave quarantine in Kenya on 3 November.
