Hon. Brown Ashira Olaly National General Secretary / CEO The Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union (KEHPHPU)
NAIROBI, October 7, 2026
By Bruno Aero Family Media Health Desk
Hon. Brown Ashira Olaly
National General Secretary / CEO
The Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union (KEHPHPU)
The Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners’ Union (KEHPHPU) has warned that Kenya faces heightened risk of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) spreading following confirmation of the country’s first case amid an ongoing nationwide strike by public health officers.
The union said the strike has disrupted critical disease surveillance, contact tracing, outbreak investigations and community mobilisation activities at a time when the country requires heightened preparedness to contain the highly infectious disease.
In a statement issued following the Ministry of Health’s confirmation of the first Ebola case, KEHPHPU said the development exposed serious weaknesses in Kenya’s public health security system, particularly at border points and other points of entry.
The union accused the government of failing to demonstrate sufficient urgency in resolving the strike, warning that the absence of public health personnel could undermine efforts to detect and contain new infections.
“Disease surveillance, contact tracing, investigations, and community mobilization are currently paralyzed,” the union said, describing the situation as a major threat to national health security.
KEHPHPU welcomed the Ministry of Health’s decision to notify the public about the confirmed case, saying transparent communication was critical in maintaining public confidence and ensuring compliance with health measures.
The union urged Kenyans to strictly observe public health protocols, including hygiene measures, contact tracing requirements and timely reporting of suspected cases.
however, the union expressed concern over what it described as a four-day delay between confirmation of the case and official public notification.
KEHPHPU said the delay was particularly worrying given reports that the patient had been seeking treatment elsewhere for about a month before the case was confirmed and the patient arrived in Kenya.
The union warned that such gaps in early detection and reporting could provide opportunities for the virus to spread undetected.
Borders under scrutiny
The public health practitioners also raised alarm over the preparedness of Kenya’s points of entry, saying the first Ebola case highlighted vulnerabilities in border surveillance.
According to the union, shortages of qualified public health officers at border points, inadequate screening infrastructure and the absence of personnel due to the ongoing strike had left some entry points exposed.
KEHPHPU also criticised what it termed inadequate involvement of public health professionals in the country’s Ebola response and management structures.
The union pointed to Kenya’s experience with COVID-19, noting that the first confirmed case entered the country through an airport and warning that the country must avoid repeating weaknesses in border surveillance.
The union further criticised the Ministry of Health and the Kenya National Public Health Institute (KNPHI) over Ebola preparedness training, saying recent capacity-building programmes had largely focused on county management teams and rapid response teams.
It said the training had not been adequately cascaded to frontline public health practitioners working at community level.
“This critical gap leaves frontline practitioners at extreme occupational risk and places entire communities in danger,” the union said.
Isolation centres and PPE concerns
KEHPHPU also raised questions over the preparedness of county isolation facilities, claiming that some counties had designated rooms but lacked essential equipment, including adequate testing capacity.
The union called for greater transparency over the status and readiness of isolation centres across the country.
It further warned that frontline health workers remained exposed because of inadequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE), calling for urgent measures to protect personnel expected to respond to suspected Ebola cases.
The union linked low staff morale to poor remuneration and the absence of an enhanced risk allowance for public health officers working in high-risk environments.
It also raised concerns over what it described as institutional bias towards clinical cadres in public health institutions and the proposed Centers for Disease Control structures.
Union demands urgent deployment
KEHPHPU is demanding an immediate resolution of the public health workers’ strike, saying the government must address welfare, promotion and structural issues contained in its strike notice.
The union wants comprehensive Ebola preparedness training rolled out to public health personnel at sub-county, ward and village levels.
It is also calling for the immediate recruitment and deployment of more than 2,000 public health officers across counties and points of entry.
According to the union, additional staffing is necessary to strengthen disease surveillance, border screening and community-level response.
KEHPHPU said the Ebola case should serve as a wake-up call for the government to strengthen Kenya’s public health system before further infections occur.
It called on the national and county governments to treat the Ebola threat as an urgent national health-security matter and ensure that public health professionals are fully integrated into preparedness, surveillance and response operations.
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