Uganda has declared the end of a nearly four-month-long Ebola outbreak that it initially struggled to contain but was then able to fast put under control. At a ceremony on Wednesday 11th January 2023, to commemorate the end of the outbreak, health minister Jane Ruth Aceng declared, “We have successfully halted the spread of Ebola in Uganda.”
According to data from the health ministry, 55 of the 143 persons who contracted the outbreak since September have died. Six of the fatalities were healthcare professionals.
Early on in the outbreak, cases were found in a number of districts, including Kampala, 150 km (90 miles) to the west of the outbreak’s epicenter in Mubende.
According to the World Health Organization, a nation cannot be deemed Ebola-free until 42 days have passed since the last confirmed case, which is twice the maximum incubation time. Following Uganda’s completion of that deadline, a proclamation was made on Wednesday.
The last Ebola patient in Uganda was released from the hospital in December 2022, and President Yoweri Museveni abolished all travel restrictions linked to the disease.
