Uganda’s Ministry of Health has announced that the country is free of Ebola marking the official close of an outbreak.
Health Minister Dr. Chris Baryomunsi declaration follows 42 days without a single new case, counted from the discharge of the last patient on 16th June, 2026.
The outbreak (Ebola Bundibugyo strain) was first confirmed on 15th May, 2026 after cases linked to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) turned up in Uganda.
In total, 20 people were infected of which eighteen recovered and two died. Fifteen of the cases came in from DRC directly, while five were Ugandan health workers who caught the virus while caring for them.
Unlike some past outbreaks, officials say this one was easy to trace from start to finish. They identified where the virus came from, how it got in, and how it spread between the confirmed cases. Everyone who had contact with a patient was quarantined and monitored for 21 days, and none of them fell ill.
Uganda credited newer tools such as the genome sequencing, rapid lab tests and digital contact tracing with giving health workers a clearer picture than was possible in earlier outbreaks.
Even though Uganda registers success in battling the outbreak, the neighbouring DRC posts huge number of cases and fatalities. Early this week, the death toll from the 17th outbreak stood at 1,405 out of 3,200 infected.
Characteristics of the Bundibugyo Virus
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) is a severe and often fatal form of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus, one of the Orthoebolavirus species. It is a zoonotic disease, with fruit bats suspected to be the natural reservoir.
Human infection is thought to occur through close contact with the blood or secretions of infected wildlife, such as bats or non-human primates, and it subsequently spreads from person to person through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected individuals or contaminated surfaces or items.
WHO further says the transmission is particularly amplified in health-care settings when infection prevention and control (IPC) measures are inadequate, and during unsafe burial practices involving direct contact with the deceased.
The incubation period for BVD ranges from two to 21 days, and individuals are not infectious until symptom onset. Early symptoms such as fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat, are non-specific, which complicates clinical diagnosis and can delay detection.
