Authorities in Uganda declared the country free of Ebola last week after the discharge of the country’s last patient in mid-June – as the virus continues to plague the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, reports The Associated Press.
Since the outset, Uganda has maintained its cases were linked to the larger outbreak in eastern Congo’s remote province of Ituri, which borders Uganda. The first cases in Uganda were Congolese who crossed the border to seek treatment for an unknown illness before it was known they had Ebola, health authorities have said.
After what health officials believe was weeks of transmission, the DRC announced its outbreak on 15 May, the same day that Uganda confirmed two Ebola cases, including a man who had already died.
While a total of 20 cases were reported in Uganda, officials say there is currently no indication of further spread within the country.
After the release of the last patient on 16 June, Ugandan authorities have waited the World Health Organisation-recommended 42 days – or two incubation cycles for Ebola – to declare the country free of the disease.
“The 2026 Ebola outbreak arose from a fully documented importation event, unlike previous outbreaks in the country,” the Ugandan Health Ministry said in a statement last week.
It added that all identified contacts had been institutionally quarantined and completed the mandatory 21-day follow-up without evidence of further transmission.
The country’s health authorities had acted quickly after the confirmation of its first cases in May, with the president urging citizens to “stop shaking hands”, and ordering the postponement of an annual religious event that attracts thousands of pilgrims – from the DRC and elsewhere – who converge around a Catholic shrine just outside the capital, Kampala, in June.
Other measures included the suspension of all public transportation and flights between Uganda and the Congo, where the outbreak remains worrisome.
A 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa has, thus far, been considered the worst in history, with 28 000 cases and more than 11 000 deaths.
The speed of transmission in the current DRC outbreak comes amid concerns that many communities in the affected provinces are either unreachable or have been abandoned by responders in recent days over safety concerns after attacks from angry residents and rebels.
Tracing and isolating Ebola contacts is seen as key to stopping the spread of the disease, which usually manifests as haemorrhagic fever.
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