Uganda has been declared free of Ebola by the World Health Organization, closing out an outbreak that was contained with unusual speed. The announcement came after the country passed 42 days without a new case, the standard threshold of two incubation periods used to confirm an outbreak is over.
The toll was light by historical standards. Uganda recorded 20 cases in all, with two deaths, and discharged its final patient in mid-July. The country had declared the outbreak over itself weeks earlier, but the WHO applies its own verification window before confirming.
“We had assessed the risk, we knew that we were free from Ebola. However, WHO had to wait because that’s the process,” said Diana Atwine, permanent secretary at Uganda’s health ministry.
Uganda’s experience with the disease, which it has faced repeatedly, helped keep numbers low. Rapid contact tracing, isolation and established treatment protocols prevented the wider spread that has overwhelmed health systems elsewhere.
The contrast across the border is stark. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a separate outbreak has kept growing, with more than 5,600 confirmed cases and over 2,700 deaths by late August, centred on the north-eastern province of Ituri. Uganda has begun helping set up treatment centres there.
Ebola spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of the infected and can move quickly if missed early. The gap between Uganda’s contained episode and Congo’s deepening crisis is a reminder of how much the speed of the initial response shapes the outcome.
