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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that the Ebola outbreak in Uganda is over.
WHO announced this at a joint news conference on Tuesday with Uganda’s Ministry of Health.
Uganda’s Health Ministry permanent secretary, Diana Atwine, said the East African country had passed the mandatory 42-day monitoring period without any new cases.
“We had assessed the risk, we had assessed the whole chain of transmission and the dynamics of importation of the virus in the country, and we knew that we were free from Ebola,” said Atwine.
“However, WHO had to wait because that’s the process. That’s the guideline.”
The Ugandan health official further urged countries that had imposed travel restrictions on Uganda during the outbreak to lift them.
“Unless they have other reasons, they should definitely lift the restrictions off the country, and Ugandans should be free to travel to any country,” she said.
The WHO announcement follows a July 28 declaration by the Ugandan government that it was free of the disease, which caused 20 cases and two deaths in the country.
In the DR Congo, the epicentre of the outbreak, Ebola cases continue to rise.
The country has recorded over 5,600 confirmed cases and a total of 2,715 deaths, according to the latest government data
The outbreak is the second-deadliest in history and is outpacing containment efforts.
The Director of Emergency Preparedness for the WHO African region said contact tracing and testing have improved, and that analyses of the Bundibugyo virus have shown no signs of mutation despite the rapid spread.
