Ebola outbreak over but threat remains, says govt
A Ugandan doctor vaccinates the contact of a patient who tested positive during the launch of the vaccination for the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus with a trial vaccine at the Mulago Guest House (Isolation centre) in Kampala, Uganda, February 3, 2025. PHOTO/REUTERS
What you need to know:
- The Ebola virus outbreak, declared in Uganda on January 30, resulted in a 28.6 percent fatality rate among the reported cases.
The Ministry of Health has officially declared the country's eighth Ebola outbreak over, according to international health regulations.
This follows a 42-day period without any new infections reported. Information from the Ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that during this outbreak, which was triggered by Sudan Ebolavirus, 14 cases, which include 12 confirmed and two not confirmed through laboratory tests (probable), were reported.
Four deaths, which include two confirmed and two probable, also occurred, with 10 people recovering from the deadly disease.
"Having completed two full incubation cycles, that is 42 days, since the last confirmed case was discharged on March 14, and having recorded no new cases amid sustained surveillance efforts, I now officially declare the current Sudan Ebola virus disease outbreak in Uganda to be over. Uganda is now free of active Ebola transmission," Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Minister of Health, said on Saturday in Mbale City.
The Ebola virus disease outbreak was declared in Uganda on January 30. The outbreak was first confirmed following laboratory testing of samples obtained from a 32-year-old male nurse who passed away at Mulago National Referral Hospital. The case had been managed at several facilities, including Mulago in Kampala, Matugga in Wakiso, Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in Mbale City and by a traditional healer. "This is Uganda's eighth Ebola outbreak, a reminder of our nation's resilience in the face of recurrent epidemics," Dr Aceng observed.
"This current outbreak has highlighted Uganda's increasing capacity to respond to health emergencies, a result of sustained investment in surveillance, response infrastructure, and multi-sectoral coordination," she added. Dr Aceng also observed that although 28.6 percent of the cases (infections) resulted in death, many recovered. "On a positive note, 10 patients recovered. They were identified from the quarantined contacts following timely and appropriate care," she said.
"The outbreak spread across seven districts and three cities. These are Kampala, Mbale, both the district and the city, Wakiso, Jinja district and city, Ntoroko, Fort Portal, and Kyegegwa. Transmission was primarily through family clusters," she added.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, in his remarks on Saturday, congratulated the country for the speedy and effective response, working together with the WHO. “The recent outbreak of Ebola disease in Uganda is over. I thank and congratulate the Ministry of Health for its leadership and commitment, and the many health workers who protected their communities despite the risks,” he said.
“When the first case was confirmed, WHO deployed experts within 24 hours to support the ministry in the response. We mobilised 129 local and international staff; coordinated partners; helped to scale up laboratory capacity; provided essential supplies and supported community engagement,” he added. Dr Tedros, however, observes that the ebola threat remains.
"WHO remains committed to strengthening surveillance, readiness, and rapid response systems in Uganda and across the region. Together we have seen that with speed and coordination and support under the leadership of the government, we can stop outbreaks in their tracks,” he added.
Before the January outbreak, the country was just recovering from the 2022 outbreak in Mubende District, which saw a total of 164 infections, with 77 deaths reported in nine districts. This is a case fatality rate of around 47 percent, which was higher than the fatality rate in the 2025 outbreak.
Dr Henry Kyobe, the Ebola Incident Commander at the Ministry of Health, suspects that the disease outbreak in 2022 could have entered the population from the wild. Dr Kyobe postulates that some people could have eaten wild animals like bats. He said they were still doing investigations to determine the source of the 2025 Ebola outbreak.
About funding
This reporter could not establish the exact amount spent by the government and the development partners on this Ebola response. But the previous reports indicate that the country was given donations from a number of partners to speed up the response and manage patients or contacts.
By February 2025, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the WHO had separately announced $6 million (about Shs22 billion) in funding to support Uganda’s effort to contain double outbreaks of Ebola and Mpox.
“To support the response, I am releasing $2 million (Shs7.3 billion) from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies. This is in addition to the $1 million (Shs3.6 billion) that we contributed earlier to set up the initial response. I thank all donors and partners who are supporting the response,” Dr Tedros announced in February. IGAD specifically announced a funding of $4 million (Shs14.4 billion).
In a statement, IGAD indicated that the funding was coming through its Regional Pandemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE) Project.
IGAD said the money would help the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uganda in “response to the Mpox/Ebola diseases through strengthening surveillance, laboratory capacity, workforce development and coordination mechanisms.”
This month, the US government, after donating monoclonal antibodies for future use in Ebola treatment, indicated that they have been funding the country’s Ebola response.
“This US government assistance is in addition to ongoing robust US contributions to Uganda’s 2025 Ebola response, including more than $6 million to date to support case identification and surveillance, contact tracing, lab diagnostics, entry/exit screening, public messaging, community outreach, and infection prevention and control,” the US government stated this month.
