Uganda: Africa CDC Urges U.S. to Lift Uganda Ebola Travel Restrictions

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a report from The Independent in Kampala, says the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has asked the United States to remove Ebola-related travel measures affecting Uganda. Africa CDC Director General Dr Jean Kaseya said the agency had written to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and argued that Uganda’s response has been open and effective.

According to the report, Kaseya spoke Tuesday in Accra at the ministerial segment of an African Union extraordinary session on ending AIDS by 2030 and strengthening health systems. He said Uganda had gone three weeks without a new Ebola case and that its last patient was discharged on July 16. The report says that discharge began the World Health Organization’s 42-day monitoring period before a country can be declared free of Ebola transmission.

The U.S. measures described in the article included additional screening for travelers from Uganda, routing some passengers through designated airports, and temporary entry limits for certain travelers with recent Uganda travel history. The report notes that these were not a full travel ban, but Ugandan officials have said they hurt tourism, business travel, investment and the country’s reputation. Kaseya argued that countries should not be penalized for promptly reporting outbreaks.

The appeal came as Africa CDC highlighted a much larger Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kaseya said DRC had recorded more than 2,400 confirmed cases and about 1,000 deaths, with insecurity and displacement complicating surveillance and contact tracing. The report says Africa CDC estimates US$1.4 billion is needed for the response, while African countries have pledged about US$110 million so far.