Health authorities launch diplomatic outreach as country strengthens cross-border response with DR Congo….reports Asian Lite News Desk
Uganda has announced that it has successfully contained the spread of Ebola nearly two months after the outbreak was declared, with health authorities now urging countries to lift travel restrictions imposed over the disease.
Diana Atwine, Permanent Secretary at Uganda’s Ministry of Health, said on Sunday that the outbreak had been brought under control through the treatment of all confirmed imported cases and locally transmitted infections, comprehensive contact tracing, quarantine measures and supportive medical care.
In a post on social media platform X, Atwine said the Ministry had also strengthened preventive measures along the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the ongoing Ebola outbreak, to prevent further cross-border transmission.
She added that Uganda has begun engaging countries that imposed Ebola-related travel restrictions in an effort to have the measures withdrawn.
Earlier in the day, Atwine announced that Uganda had dispatched a large medical team, two mobile laboratories and logistical support to the DRC to assist in containing the outbreak.
She said the joint Uganda-DRC initiative is aimed at strengthening the cross-border Ebola response by reducing the movement of infected patients into Uganda for treatment, limiting cross-border transmission and helping bring the outbreak under control more quickly.
According to the Ministry of Health, Uganda had recorded 20 confirmed Ebola cases as of July 5 since the outbreak was declared on May 15. The total includes 15 imported infections from the DRC and five locally transmitted cases.
Of the confirmed cases, 16 patients have recovered, two remain hospitalised and two have died.
The Ministry said the mandatory 42-day countdown required to declare Uganda Ebola-free will begin only after the last confirmed patient is no longer capable of transmitting the virus. If no new infections are detected during that period, the country will officially declare the outbreak over.
