Kenya has recorded its first confirmed Ebola case, a Kenyan citizen who has been living in Democratic Republic of Congo and arrived in Nairobi on Saturday, health minister Aden Duale said.

The patient has since died, and 28 contacts have been identified so far including family members and health workers, Duale told a press conference.

Congo has been battling its largest-ever Ebola outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo species.

The outbreak was declared in mid-May but may have started months earlier and has so far resisted containment efforts, with the Central African country recording more than 8 000 cases and over 4 000 deaths.

The outbreak earlier spread to Uganda, which reported 20 cases and two deaths, but the World Health Organization declared Uganda free of the disease in August.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, living or dead. It can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.