NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya will stage a four-day nationwide Ebola preparedness drill later this month as the government steps up efforts to assess the country’s readiness to detect and respond to a potential outbreak.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the exercise, scheduled for June 15 to 18, will test critical components of the country’s emergency response framework, including coordination systems, referral pathways, laboratory capacity and outbreak response mechanisms.
“A national tabletop exercise is scheduled for June 15 to 18, 2026, to test coordination, referral, laboratory and response systems,” Duale said.
The drill comes amid heightened regional surveillance for Ebola and other infectious disease threats, with health authorities seeking to strengthen preparedness and response capabilities across the country.
Addressing Parliament, Duale said Kenya has significantly enhanced its emergency response capacity by building a pool of trained specialists who can be deployed at short notice to support outbreak management efforts.
The Health CS revealed that the government has identified a surge workforce of 241 expert responders drawn from various public health programmes. The team includes 51 graduates of the Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, 118 professionals from the African Volunteer Health Corps and 72 specialists trained in Basic Public Health Emergency Management.
“These teams are on standby for deployment to support surveillance, contact tracing, case investigation, laboratory diagnosis and field response,” he said.
According to the ministry, the specialists would be responsible for supporting outbreak investigations, tracking contacts, conducting laboratory diagnostics and coordinating field operations if a suspected or confirmed Ebola case emerges.
The government has also expanded preparedness efforts beyond specialist teams by training frontline healthcare workers across the national and county health systems.
Duale said 1,069 healthcare workers have already undergone sensitisation programmes through virtual training sessions focused on Ebola preparedness, infection prevention and control, case management, disease surveillance and reporting procedures.
As part of targeted preparedness efforts, the ministry has also conducted practical training and simulation exercises in counties considered vulnerable because of cross-border movement and strategic geographic locations.
In Busia County, which shares a border with Uganda, 60 healthcare workers have undergone on-site training and simulation drills aimed at testing emergency response procedures and improving outbreak readiness.
“On-site training and simulation drills have been undertaken in Busia, where 60 health workers have been trained, and additional exercises are ongoing or planned for Turkana and Trans Nzoia,” he said.
The Ministry of Health has maintained that preparedness remains central to Kenya’s public health strategy, particularly because of the country’s role as a regional transport, trade and travel hub that increases the risk of cross-border disease transmission.
