Uganda declared the Bundibugyo virus outbreak over on July 28 after interrupting local transmission linked to patients who crossed from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). No further confirmed infections have been recorded.
However, Baryomunsi said continuing transmission in the DRC and recent infections among regional travellers required sustained vigilance.
The 60 contacts linked to the Kenyan patient included border personnel, hotel employees and transport operators. All were released from follow-up after remaining symptom-free throughout the monitoring period.
Investigations into Nigeria’s imported infection are continuing, with authorities examining genomic sequencing, travel information and the patient’s movements through Uganda before arrival in Abuja.
Baryomunsi said Kasese had recorded no confirmed Ebola infections or deaths.
Uganda has intensified screening at Entebbe International Airport, land borders and designated road checkpoints. All travellers must undergo health screening, with no exemptions for diplomats or United Nations personnel.
Contacts of active infections will be placed on a no-fly list until completing mandatory monitoring. Anyone exposed to a suspected case will undergo institutional quarantine for 21 days.
Movement across the Uganda-DRC border remains restricted to essential travellers, including humanitarian workers and truck drivers. Returning Ugandans with recent travel to the DRC must quarantine for 21 days at personal cost. “Uganda has demonstrated that Ebola can be contained, but no country can remain safe while transmission continues across its borders,” Baryomunsi said.
Uganda has also established three treatment units with 240 beds in affected DRC communities. A fourth facility is planned for Bulongo to reduce the need for patients to cross into Uganda.
More than 120 Ugandan personnel have been deployed, including clinicians, laboratory specialists and infection-prevention teams.
Mobile laboratories have reduced test turnaround times from four or five days to between four and six hours, with capacity for up to 2 200 tests daily.
Ugandan teams have trained 748 Congolese healthcare workers across 150 facilities. “The time for decisive collective action is now,” Baryomunsi said. “Protecting one country contributes to the protection of us all.”
–ChannelAfrica–
