The World Health Organization has officially declared Uganda free of Ebola, confirming that the East African country completed the mandatory 42-day monitoring period without recording any new cases. The announcement was made at a joint news conference with Uganda's Ministry of Health, coming roughly a month after Uganda had already declared the local outbreak over based on its own assessment of transmission chains. Uganda's Health Ministry permanent secretary Diana Atwine welcomed the confirmation, while calling on countries that imposed travel restrictions during the outbreak to lift them immediately.
Uganda recorded a total of 20 confirmed Ebola infections since May 15, when neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo announced its own outbreak. Two people died, and the last confirmed case was recorded on June 21. Ugandan authorities attributed all cases to cross-border transmission from the DRC, noting that the first patients had entered the country unknowingly infected. Authorities moved swiftly to contain the spread, cancelling large public gatherings, discouraging physical greetings, and suspending public transportation and flights between the two countries.
The situation across the border in the DRC, however, is starkly different. Confirmed cases have surpassed 5,656, with 2,715 deaths recorded across six provinces. Ituri province in the country's northeast remains the epicentre, accounting for more than 4,700 infections. Uganda shares over 877 kilometres of border with the northeastern DRC, making cross-border coordination a critical part of the regional response. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus — one of several strains of the disease, which causes severe haemorrhagic fever — for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.
Uganda has pledged to open two additional Ebola treatment centres inside the DRC, bringing its total contribution to four sites. WHO representatives are already supporting laboratory and treatment capacity at facilities in Aru and Kasenyi, both within Ituri province. Ugandan and Congolese officials also met in Kampala this week to review a bilateral memorandum of understanding on cross-border health security, with calls from Ugandan officials for the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to mobilise greater resources.
The WHO has assessed the risk as high for all countries sharing land borders with the DRC and issued updated guidance covering disease surveillance, case detection, and community engagement. The DRC delegation head Adelard Lufungula underscored the urgency of the situation, saying his country wanted to