On 6 October 2026, Kenya’s Ministry of Health confirmed the country’s first Ebola case. The patient, a Kenyan national who had lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), traveled to Nairobi through Uganda and passed away while undergoing treatment in a hospital in Nairobi. Health authorities quarantined family members and health workers who had contact with the patient and began tracing passengers from the flight.

The case is linked to the Ebola epidemic in the DRC, which began in May 2026 and has since become the worst in that country’s history, with more than 8,300 confirmed cases and over 4,000 deaths reported by early October. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in May 2026. GeoPoll has been conducting Ebola KAP surveys in the DRC for the last few months.

To understand how Kenyans are reacting, GeoPoll ran a rapid mobile survey on 6 and 7 October 2026, collecting 1,349 completed responses from adults in 46 of Kenya’s 47 counties. The survey covered awareness, concern, knowledge of symptoms, trust in information sources and exposure to misinformation.

Most Kenyans heard about the case within a day

Nearly three in four respondents (73%) said they had already heard about the Ebola case in Kenya. Another 23% had not, and 4% were not sure. Most people heard through news coverage, social media and television, with very few citing friends, family or health officials as their first source.

Concern is close to universal

Concern is very high. 81% of respondents are very concerned about Ebola spreading in Kenya, and 92% are at least somewhat concerned. Worry is personal as well: 74% are very worried that they or someone in their household could become infected.

Knowledge of symptoms is partial

Only about half of respondents identified the core early symptoms of Ebola. 53% selected severe weakness or fatigue, 52% fever and 45% headache. Fewer recognised vomiting (30%), diarrhoea (26%) or abdominal pain (21%), which WHO lists among the symptoms that typically follow. Half (51%) named unexplained bleeding, which occurs in some cases but usually later in the illness. 6% said they did not know any symptoms.

A preparedness gap

High concern does not translate into confidence about what to do. 37% are very confident they would know what to do if they or someone close to them developed symptoms. One in three (34%) is not confident, and 7% are not sure. Confidence in the government is somewhat higher: 66% are confident in the Kenyan Government’s ability to prevent and control the spread of Ebola, while 33% are not.

Official sources are trusted, but doubt persists

The Ministry of Health is the most trusted source of accurate Ebola information, selected by 60% of respondents. WHO (46%), doctors and healthcare workers (41%) and county health officials (36%) follow. Television (35%) ranks above radio and social media (24% each).

Most respondents (80%) believe the reported Ebola situation is real. However, 15% think it is probably or definitely not real, and 5% do not know. This minority matters during an outbreak, because people who doubt the threat are less likely to follow guidance or report symptoms.

Half have already seen misinformation

About half, 52% of respondents said they have seen information about Ebola in Kenya that they believe may be false or misleading. 23% see it frequently. Among those who encountered it, television was the most common channel (29%), followed by Facebook (25%), TikTok (16%) and X/Twitter (10%). Taken together, social platforms account for 57% of these encounters.

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It is on this basis that GeoPoll conducted a Rapid Survey at the beginning of November to assess citizen awareness of GMOs, their perceptions on the government approval, information gaps, and concerns that need to be addressed. This article details the results of the survey.

Awareness and concern regarding GMO foods and the Kenya government approval

A big part of the population (86%) is aware of GMOs, likely because of the amount of discussion that has been ongoing since the government recently lifted the ban. Compared to a similar study on GMOs that GeoPoll conducted with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2014, this is a significant improvement on the 65% that stated some knowledge of GMOs at that time.

Of those that were aware of genetically modified foods, 91% have heard about the government approval. Just over half of respondents (51%) agree in varying levels with the government’s decision to approve GMOs, while 21% strongly disagree with the decision.

Asked if they are willing to consume GMO products, 43% are resolute that they are not personally willing to consume. Thirty-eight percent don’t mind and 19% are unsure.

Access to information about GMOs

These conflicting perceptions about GMO foods likely stem from a lack of information. In our study, 60% of respondents believe there isn’t enough information about GMO foods available to help the masses form a proper opinion.

The largest segment of respondents has gotten most of their information about GMOs via television. According to the Kenya Media Establishment Survey 2022, TV is one of the most accessed media channels overall, which may explain why it has the largest individual reach. However, online sources (social media and other websites) combine to provide the largest source of information about GMOs to a significant number of Kenyans. Given that online channels are largely unregulated, could this create an environment for fake news and misinformation which may further fuel unverified information and myths regarding GMOs?

How can GMO information be more believable? For many respondents, agricultural professionals (56%) and medical professionals (43%) are the most preferred sources of information about GMOs. The media and government come next, in that order.

Are GMO food products safe?

Over the course of human existence, food compositions have been changing. Genetic modification of food, however, is a relatively new technology. Officially, the first GMO technology was developed in 1973 with the first FDA regulation framework coming about a decade later.

Like anything new, there are conflicting viewpoints about many issues surrounding the use of GMO foods. One area that draws a lot of attention is whether they are safe to eat. Some studies in the past have attributed GMOs to health concerns, but they have mostly been discredited by health and biotechnology experts. In GeoPoll’s study, over half (51%) believe that GMOs are mostly unsafe for human consumption – 27% believe they are safe, while 22% need more information to make up their minds.

To gauge the level of concern regarding GMO foods, we asked respondents how concerned they are, if at all, about the consumption of GMO food products. The largest segment of the panel (37%) say they are “extremely concerned” with the level of concern steadily decreasing to just 8% that say they are “not concerned at all.”

Concerns about safety may stem from the supposed disadvantages of genetically modified foods cited by respondents. The largest proportion (59%) believe GMOs may lead to unexpected or harmful genetic changes, while 51% fear they can cause diseases such as cancer. Twenty-five percent of respondents claim GMOs have less nutritional value.

Several research sources indicate that GMOs have several benefits to nutrition, global food security, and the climate. According to the FAO, humans will need to produce 70% more food to adequately feed the global population by 2050, and innovative approaches such as genetically engineering our food will be required to solve this problem.

For respondents, the advantages cited most often are that genetically modified plants and animals grow faster (48%) and are more drought-and disease-resistant (43%) – hence better for Kenya’s food security. That follows GeoPoll’s study from 2014 in which 48% of respondents believed GMOs could have a high or very high impact on reducing hunger in Kenya. In this study, 27% also believe GMOs may be less expensive, which would be a significant advantage given the ballooning cost of living. Another 24% like that GMOs typically use less pesticides.

The conversation about genetically modified foods is here and debates will be swirling for some time. Indications from this survey are that GMOs are highly misunderstood. For GMOs to take off, not just in Kenya, but in all nations where GMOs are still in infancy, it is imperative for governments, food and agricultural organizations, and the medical fraternity to heavily engage the masses, both in education and addressing their concerns.

In the meantime, food security and the quality of food remain important to most people. When we asked respondents if the food quality is better or worse than in the past, 57% said food is worse.

57% feel that food is generally worse now than in the past

About this GeoPoll survey

This Rapid Survey was run via the GeoPoll mobile application between 3^rd and 4^th of November 2022 in Kenya. The sample size was 708, composed of random App users between ages 18 and 60. Since the survey was randomly distributed, the results are slightly skewed towards younger, male respondents.

To get more details about rapid GeoPoll surveys or to conduct a scientific study on food security and agriculture, public health and nutrition, or other topics in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, please contact us.

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