Uganda declares its Ebola free after last patient discharged in June

KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan authorities said on Tuesday the East African country is “free” of Ebola after the last patient was discharged in mid-June, a delicate milestone as the virus continues to plague a remote part of neighboring Congo.Uganda always insisted its outbreak was linked to the larger one that started in eastern Congo’s province of Ituri, which shares a land border with Uganda.According to local authorities, the first cases in Uganda’s outbreak were Congolese people who crossed the border to seek treatment for an unknown illness before it was known they had Ebola.Congo declared its outbreak on May 15, the same day Uganda confirmed two Ebola cases — including a man who had already died.“Unlike previous Ebola outbreaks that informed the current 42-day declaration policy, Uganda’s 2026 Ebola outbreak arose from a fully documented importation event,” the Ugandan Ministry of Health said in a statement Tuesday.That statement said it was now possible to declare Uganda free of Ebola after “all identified contacts were institutionally quarantined and completed the mandatory 21-day follow-up without evidence of further transmission.Enhanced surveillance has detected no unexplained community transmission.”The Bundibugyo type of Ebola virus responsible for the outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment.

The region’s outbreak has been declared a global health emergency.Ugandan health authorities have experience in quickly stopping Ebola outbreaks.After the confirmation of Ebola cases in May, the president urged Ugandans to “ stop shaking hands,” and ordered the postponement of an annual religious event that attracts thousands of pilgrims — from Congo and elsewhere — who converge around a Catholic shrine just outside the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in June.Follow The Post’s coverage on the latest Ebola outbreakOther measures included the suspension of all public transportation and flights between Uganda and Congo, where t...