The Ebola epidemic in Uganda is over, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Uganda’s health minister announced on Wednesday, less than four months after the outbreak was announced, which has claimed 55 lives.
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“We have successfully brought the Ebola outbreak under control in Uganda,” Health Secretary Jane Ruth Aceng said at a ceremony in Mubende, the epicenter of the outbreak.
According to the WHO, an epidemic is over when there are no new cases for 42 consecutive days, i.e. twice the incubation period of Ebola.
The last confirmed patient with the virus was discharged from hospital on November 30, health officials said.
“Uganda ended the Ebola outbreak early by stepping up key control measures such as surveillance, contact tracing and infection, prevention and control,” said Jane Ruth Aceng, adding that the country has had 142 confirmed cases and 55 people have died.
This disease reemerged on September 20, 2022 in central Uganda, with a first case from a so-called “Sudanese” strain for which there is currently no vaccine.
But three experimental vaccines – one from the University of Oxford and the Jenner Institute in the UK, another from the Sabin Vaccine Institute in the United States and a third from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) – are currently being tested in Uganda, with first shipments in December .
According to the WHO, the country has received 5,000 doses of vaccine.
Uganda, an East African country, has experienced seven Ebola epidemics, five of them with the so-called “Sudanese” strain, recalled the Health Minister, who specified that the origin of the epidemic was “not yet known” last September.
“I commend Uganda for its robust and comprehensive response, culminating in today’s victory against Ebola,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “Uganda has shown that Ebola can be defeated if the whole system works together,” he continued.
“Without vaccines and treatments, this was one of the most challenging Ebola outbreaks in the last five years, but Uganda stayed on course and continually refined its response,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
“Two months ago there were fears that Ebola would cast a dark shadow over the country by 2023 if the epidemic spreads to major cities like Kampala and Jinja, but this victory begins the year with a pinnacle of great hope for Africa,” she continued .
“Although the epidemic has been declared over in Uganda, the health authorities are maintaining surveillance and stand ready to respond quickly to any resumption,” WHO said, reiterating that “neighboring countries remain on alert.”
Ebola is an often fatal viral hemorrhagic fever. The disease owes its name to a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where it was discovered in 1976.
Uganda, an East African country, has had six Ebola episodes, the most recent of which was in 2019. Four of these were caused by what is known as the Sudanese strain.
Transmission to humans is through bodily fluids, with the main symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhea. Infected people only become contagious after the symptoms appear, after an incubation period of 2 to 21 days.
The disease has six distinct strains, three of which (Bundibugyo, Sudan, Zaire) have already caused major epidemics.
Epidemics are particularly difficult to contain in urban areas.