OMM Newsroom
Ugandans returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo will be quarantined for 21 days, Uganda’s health ministry has said, as the country tightens restrictions to curb the spread of Ebola, according to BBC World.
More than 4,500 people have died in DR Congo since May in the country’s deadliest Ebola outbreak, which has spread to several other countries.
The measures follow concerns after two people who travelled through Uganda tested positive for Ebola in Kenya and Nigeria. On Sunday, the health ministry said all 60 people being monitored after contact with the Kenyan patient had been discharged.
Uganda tightens border screening
Under the new measures, travellers who have been to DR Congo will not be allowed to transit through Uganda. Returning Ugandans will “undergo 21 days of quarantine at their own cost”, the ministry said.
Screening has also been intensified at Entebbe International Airport and all land border crossings, with checks at designated road checkpoints, the ministry added.
Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi told the BBC’s “Newsday” programme that only essential travellers from DR Congo would be allowed into Uganda, and that they would face “intense public health measures”.
“All these are measures to ensure that we keep Uganda free of Ebola,” he said.
Cases reported in Kenya and Nigeria
Uganda has repeatedly said no Ebola cases have been reported within its borders since the recent cases in Kenya and Nigeria. The country recorded 20 cases and two deaths shortly after the outbreak began in DR Congo. The World Health Organization declared Uganda free of the disease in August.
Concerns have continued because both patients tested positive after passing through Entebbe airport on the same day.
The patient in Nigeria is a Ugandan-born woman, the wife of a diplomat, who had travelled to the Ugandan capital for a holiday, according to Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The Kenyan patient had travelled from DR Congo, where he had business interests.
Diana Atwine, the health ministry’s permanent secretary, said CCTV footage showed no physical interaction between the two patients.
The Kenyan businessman died two days after arriving in Nairobi. Kenya has since confirmed eight other Ebola cases, and a second woman related to the businessman died over the weekend.
Ugandan officials had earlier said the patient in Nigeria had travelled to eastern DR Congo and only transited through Uganda. On Sunday, the health ministry said Uganda and Nigeria were working to establish her movements, full travel history and possible routes of exposure.
Baryomunsi said the recent cases showed that the risk had not ended and reinforced the need to “remain vigilant”.
“We share a border with [DR Congo], where transmission continues, and our communities remain closely connected through trade, travel and family ties,” he said.
Ebola spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids, such as blood or vomit. The Bundibugyo species responsible for this outbreak is relatively rare, and there is no vaccine or specific treatment, although trials are under way.
