Uganda reported on Wednesday that the months-long Ebola virus outbreak in a region west of the capital, Kampala, has come to an end. According to Health Minister Jane Ruth Assing, the spread of the disease has been brought under control.
The infectious disease re-emerged in the African country in September. It was one of the variants first noticed in Sudan for which there is no vaccine yet.
In November, Uganda imposed a lockdown to curb the spread of the Ebola virus. No new infections have been reported so far for 42 consecutive days.
According to official figures, 143 people have been infected in Uganda. 55 of them died from the effects of the infection, including 6 medical personnel who became infected while caring for others.
This was the eighth Ebola outbreak in Uganda since 2000. The disease also returns regularly in other African countries. In August 2021, she reappeared in Ivory Coast for the first time in 25 years.
The director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, praised Uganda for fighting the virus. “Uganda has shown that Ebola can be defeated if the whole system works together, from health care to citizens helping each other.”
