Uganda declares end to Ebola outbreak

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing its staff and Reuters, reported that Uganda has declared the end of its Ebola outbreak after completing the required 42-day monitoring period without detecting any new cases. Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi said on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, that the countdown began after the last Ugandan patient with a locally transmitted infection was discharged on June 16. He said health officials kept nationwide surveillance in place during that period.

According to the report, Uganda recorded 20 confirmed Ebola cases in the outbreak. Eighteen patients recovered and were discharged, while two people died. Both deaths involved people from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a far larger Ebola outbreak is continuing. Baryomunsi later urged Ugandans on social media to stay alert and keep following public health measures despite the declaration.

The regional context remains serious. Al Jazeera reported that Congo’s Ministry of Health has recorded at least 3,262 infections and 1,437 deaths in the current outbreak, which began in mid-May. The World Health Organization has described the latest spread as the fastest ever recorded and has warned that the real number of cases could be substantially higher than official figures.

The report said the strain circulating in the DRC is the Bundibugyo variant, described as the rarest of the Ebola types known to infect humans, with no approved vaccines or treatments currently available. Ebola can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and internal bleeding, and it spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people or those who have died from the disease.