End of the epidemic in Uganda. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Thursday that the Ebola epidemic in this Great Lakes country has ended, following the absence of any new infections during a 42-day period after the last patient was discharged from the hospital.
In Uganda, 20 infections were confirmed and two patients died, while the others have all recovered, according to the Ugandan Ministry of Health. The last recovered patient was discharged on July 16, marking the start of a 42-day period after which the WHO declares the end of an epidemic if no new cases are detected.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) “welcomed the end of the Ebola epidemic caused by the Bundibugyo strain in Uganda.” The two organizations noted that “the end of the 42-day period, equivalent to twice the maximum incubation period of Ebola, is a crucial milestone, as it provides additional assurance that no transmission chains associated with the last imported case have gone unnoticed.”
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as quoted in the statement, “Uganda has demonstrated that with decisive action, Ebola outbreaks can be rapidly contained.” Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa CDC, emphasized, “We must now preserve this achievement while accelerating the response in the DRC. We will only be safe when transmission has ceased everywhere.”
The current Ebola virus disease epidemic was declared on May 15 in a province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) bordering Uganda, as well as in Uganda itself. It continues to rage in the DRC, where it has now spread to six provinces and has already caused more than 2,700 deaths out of over 5,650 confirmed cases, recently becoming the deadliest in the country’s history.
The number of infections and deaths from the current outbreak in the DRC has surpassed in just three months that of the epidemic that occurred between 2018 and 2020 in the east of the country, which was previously considered the deadliest in the DRC. The UN warned on August 21 that the epidemic in the DRC was progressing “exponentially” and faster than the health response.
Captured & Published at: 2026-08-27 20:38:41 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
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