The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | URN | Uganda has been re-declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization after completing the required 42-day period without recording a new confirmed case.
The declaration was made on Wednesday by Dr Kasonde Mwinga, the WHO Representative in Uganda, almost a month after the Ministry of Health had earlier declared the country free of the disease.
Mwinga said the 42-day period without a new confirmed case is the global standard for declaring an Ebola outbreak over.
She said completing the period provides additional assurance that no chains of transmission linked to the imported case reported in Uganda in May were missed.
The Ministry of Health says the declaration should also allow countries that imposed travel restrictions on Uganda following the Ebola case to lift the measures.
Dr Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, said the restrictions have continued to affect the country’s economy.
She said the countries that imposed the measures had been waiting for Uganda to complete the 42 days before reviewing them.
Atwine said Uganda’s earlier declaration was based on a thorough assessment that there was no active Ebola transmission in the country.
She said the Ministry of Health will, however, maintain surveillance, including monitoring deaths and screening travellers, particularly at the country’s borders.
This comes as Ebola transmission continues in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where Uganda has been supporting the response.
Atwine said the situation in DRC does not currently pose a significant threat to Uganda because of the surveillance measures in place.
She said Uganda remains safe despite the increase in Ebola cases and deaths in DRC, adding that authorities are maintaining vigilance against possible imported cases.
As of Wednesday, DRC had recorded 5,656 confirmed Ebola cases and 2,715 confirmed deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.
Uganda has also been operating two Ebola treatment centres in DRC to support the neighbouring country in managing the outbreak.
Atwine said the government has been asked to establish two additional treatment centres in Mahagi and Butembo.
She said the existing facilities at Aruu and Kasenyi, both near the Uganda-DRC border, have attracted Congolese patients, including people referred by relatives who had previously received treatment at the centres.
The continued presence of Ugandan health teams in DRC is part of efforts to contain the outbreak at source and reduce the risk of cases being imported into Uganda.
Meanwhile, the WHO has handed over a truck-mounted mobile laboratory to Uganda to strengthen the country’s preparedness and surveillance for public health emergencies.
The laboratory, valued at 500,000 US dollars, was donated by the African Development Bank.
The mobile facility is intended to allow health teams to conduct laboratory testing closer to areas experiencing outbreaks, potentially reducing the time needed to collect and transport samples to fixed laboratories.
Atwine said Uganda has already deployed a similar mobile laboratory in DRC and that the newly donated facility could also be deployed there if the need arises.
The re-declaration of Uganda as Ebola-free marks another milestone in the country’s response to the imported case reported in May, but health authorities say surveillance will continue because of the ongoing outbreak in neighbouring DRC.
