Uganda Orders 21-Day Quarantine for Travellers Returning from DRC
Uganda has introduced a 21-day quarantine requirement for returning citizens with recent travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and expanded screening across key entry points.
Uganda has introduced a mandatory 21-day quarantine for citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who have a history of travel there, according to the country’s health ministry.
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The ministry said those required to quarantine would do so at their own expense. It did not provide details in the supplied information about where the quarantine would take place or how compliance would be enforced.
Screening expanded at entry points
Authorities have also intensified traveller screening at Entebbe International Airport and all land border crossings. The measures include screening at designated road checkpoints, the ministry said.
The DRC shares a border with Uganda, and Uganda’s health ministry said earlier Ebola cases in the country had occurred almost exclusively among people returning from visits to the DRC.
The latest measures come amid an Ebola outbreak in the DRC that the source report describes as the country’s worst on record. More than 4,600 deaths have been recorded since the DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in May, according to the report.
Uganda declared Ebola-free in August
The World Health Organization declared Uganda Ebola-free in August after the country recorded 20 cases, including two deaths.
Ugandan government spokesperson Alan Kasujja rejected a suggestion that a patient identified in Nigeria may have contracted Ebola in Uganda. Kasujja described the suggestion as “absurd” and said Uganda had “no cases of Ebola.”
Nigeria’s first reported case involved a woman who arrived in Abuja on a flight from Uganda, while Kenya and Nigeria were reported to have recorded their first cases in October. The supplied information does not provide the date of the Nigerian patient’s arrival or identify her by name.
About the outbreak
Ebola is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and causes severe haemorrhagic fever. The current outbreak is attributed to the Bundibugyo strain, for which the source report says there is still no vaccine or specific treatment.
The source report also says Ebola has caused more than 15,000 deaths in Africa over the past 50 years.
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