Uganda's Minister of Health, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, speaks during the announcement that Uganda has been declared Ebola-free after completing the mandatory 42-day monitoring period without recording any new infections. Photo Credit: Government of Uganda / Ministry of Health

NNA News - Uganda is officially Ebola-free after completing the mandatory 42-day monitoring period without recording any new infections, the country's Health Ministry announced on Tuesday. The announcement brings an end to an outbreak that infected 20 people and killed two.

The outbreak was declared in mid-May. It ended with 18 patients recovering and being discharged from hospital. "Following the successful completion of the mandatory 42-day monitoring period, which began after the discharge of the last Ugandan national, a locally transmitted patient, on the 16th of June, 2026, Uganda is officially Ebola-free," Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi wrote on X. 

The 42-day countdown began on 16 June, when the last Ugandan infected through local transmission was discharged from hospital. Although the final patient, a Congolese national, was discharged on 22 June, health authorities said the monitoring period is measured from the last locally transmitted case. "Throughout this period the Ministry of Health maintained intensive surveillance nationwide, and no new Ebola cases have been detected," Baryomunsi added.

Health officials attributed the rapid containment to a swift response and stated the outbreak was brought under control relatively quickly because it originated from a single imported infection rather than widespread community transmission. "The source of infection was identified, the route of introduction established, and all confirmed cases were epidemiologically linked. The transmission chains were completely characterised and reconstructed, and all identified contacts were institutionally quarantined and completed the mandatory 21-day follow-up without evidence of further transmission," the ministry explained.

The country's health department announced that 15 out of Uganda's 20 confirmed cases were contracted in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the ongoing regional outbreak, before the individuals crossed the border into Uganda. Both fatalities were nationals of the DRC.

Although Uganda has successfully halted transmission within its borders, officials warn that the declaration does not mark the end of the regional threat. Therefore, border surveillance will remain in place as transmission continues in the DRC. The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned in its latest risk assessment, issued on 6 June, that the outbreak continues to pose a significant regional risk. WHO warned that the risk in the DRC remained "very high" due to ongoing transmission and the spread of the outbreak into new health zones, increasing the potential for further infections within the country and across borders. The agency also assessed the risk in Uganda as "high."

This was due to imported infections and ongoing epidemiological connections along the eastern DRC-western Uganda corridor. The area has also documented previous outbreaks of Bundibugyo and Sudan virus disease. The World Health Organisation rated the risk of Ebola spreading in countries that share land borders with affected states as "high". 

The agency attributed the risk to sustained cross-border movement linked to trade and mining activities, as well as varying levels of outbreak preparedness and response capacity. WHO added that the risk to the rest of Africa and to the wider world remained “low.” Uganda has recorded multiple Ebola outbreaks since 2000. The country’s health officials say decades of responding to outbreaks have strengthened surveillance, laboratory testing, and contact tracing. These systems have enabled authorities to detect cases quickly and limit wider spread.

Despite that progress, experts warn that Uganda remains at risk of future outbreaks. The danger comes from the tropical forests in the country, which are home to fruit bats carrying the Ebola virus. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids or tissues of an infected person or animal. Symptoms include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, and, in more severe cases, bleeding.