WHO declares Uganda Ebola-free after 42 days without new case

What the report says

The World Health Organization has re-declared Uganda Ebola-free after the country completed 42 days without a new confirmed case, according to reporting by The Independent Uganda. The announcement was made in Kampala on Wednesday by Dr Kasonde Mwinga, WHO’s representative in Uganda, after an imported Ebola case was reported in May. The 42-day period is the standard used to confirm that an outbreak has ended.

Uganda’s Ministry of Health said the milestone should help ease travel restrictions that some countries imposed after the earlier case. Permanent Secretary Dr Diana Atwine said those measures had affected the economy and that authorities had been waiting for the full observation period before reviewing them. She added that Uganda’s earlier declaration that it was free of Ebola was based on an assessment that there was no active transmission, but that surveillance will continue.

Health officials said monitoring will remain in place through screening at borders and tracking deaths, especially because Ebola transmission is still ongoing in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. The ministry said Uganda continues to support the DRC response and operates Ebola treatment centres there to help control the outbreak at its source.

During the announcement, WHO also handed Uganda a truck-mounted mobile laboratory, donated by the African Development Bank and valued at $500,000, to improve emergency testing and response. The unit is intended to bring laboratory services closer to outbreak areas and speed up public health surveillance.