Uganda is set to begin a 42-day countdown towards being declared Ebola-free after the country’s final Ebola patient is discharged from hospital on Thursday.
Government spokesperson Alan Kasujja said the patient would be released from the isolation unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, marking a key milestone in the country’s fight against the deadly virus.
Under World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, a country can be declared free of an Ebola outbreak if no new cases are reported for 42 consecutive days following the recovery or death of the last confirmed patient.
“When that happens, Uganda starts counting down. If 42 days pass without a single new case, WHO guidelines stipulate that we will be declared Ebola-free,” Kasujja said in a post on X.
According to Uganda’s Health Ministry, the country has recorded 20 Ebola cases during the current outbreak, including 17 recoveries, two deaths and one remaining patient, who is due to be discharged. Of the confirmed cases, five were locally transmitted while 15 were imported.
All infections have been linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, which the WHO has described as the source of the third-largest outbreak involving that strain on record.
The outbreak is part of a wider Ebola crisis centred in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the WHO declared a public health emergency in May.
As of Wednesday, authorities in the DRC had confirmed 2,011 Ebola infections and 754 deaths, according to government figures.
Health officials have urged continued vigilance throughout the 42-day monitoring period to ensure no further cases emerge before Uganda can officially regain its Ebola-free status.
