Businesses in the hospitality industry, and tour operators in particular, have taken serious issue with the communication related to Ebola put out by Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MoH).
Some have complained that the communications are sensationalist, others that they are inaccurate or simply exaggerated. Still others have suggested that the MoH should simply remain silent on the matter.
The messages coming out of the MoH, they have stated, are simply destroying the tourism industry and have adverse effects on their tour or hotel businesses. In response the MoH, has stated that they are duty-bound to be transparent, and that silence will have even more detrimental effects.
That they must not jeopardise the trust that international actors have in MoH. MoH officials have also stated that it is their primary mandate to save lives over and above anything else.
Our argument is that the issue here is less about sensationalism or exaggerated communication or silence, and more about accurate and appropriately contextualised messaging, and it is to the President Museveni’s messaging regarding Ebola to which we turn for some guidance. The President has argued that relative to Covid or other airborne epidemics, Ebola is easier to control.
Let us expand on the President’s position in order to create some convergence between the positions of the actors in the hospitality industry and the position of the Ministry of Health Ebola is transmitted only when the fluids of an infected person gain access into the body of a health person. The key phrases here are ‘infected person’ and ‘gains entry’. Let’s reflect on these two phrases more carefully.
An infected person will only transmit Ebola if they are symptomatic. What does this mean? Not all persons infected with Ebola are contagious—only those that are have symptoms will transmit the Ebola virus. One of the first symptoms of Ebola is elevated temperature, and this is why temperature screening at places such as airports, is the first line of defence. This is why efforts must be made to detect Ebola symptoms as early as possible.
Second, what does ‘gain entry’ mean? The President has explained that Ebola can gain entry into the body of an infected person through very limited channels: the eyes, mouth, broken skin membrane, sexual intercourse.
Transmission via these channels is extremely easy to prevent through proper handwashing, use of sanitiser solutions, avoiding touching eyes and mouth, and sexual intercourse. All these are relatively easy behaviour modification strategies, and relatively easily SOPs to implement in hotels, restaurants, vehicles etc. The President has aptly pointed this out.
The third issue is related to Ebola’s transmission hotspots. By far the majority of transmission cases have occurred in medical facilities. Why? When a person begins to feel sick with symptoms-temperature, vomiting, diarrhoea, their first destination is the medical facility. However, medical workers often lack the essential personal protective equipment (PPEs), and will typically touch patients without wearing gloves, etc. This is why medical facilities are major transmission hotspots. In addition to early detection, the MoH should ensure that PPEs are available in sufficient supply in medical facilities and that all medical workers use them all the time, including when there is no Ebola outbreak.
The first, second and third issues outlined above suggest that the probability of being infected with Ebola by persons, including tourists, who practice the SOPs, and whose hosts in turn adhere to SOPs is close to zero.
This must be part of the core messaging related to Ebola. This is why, unlike Covid, Ebola is not widespread and the rest of us, including tourists that are here are going about our business relatively normally.
Finally, we need a strategic and regional, rather than a reactionary approach, to managing Ebola outbreaks, of which we have had since 1975. What would a regional Ebola prevention strategy look like?
First, communities in the DRC and Uganda should be sensitised about Ebola, how it spreads, and prevention measures. Second, our governments should adopt a proactive, as opposed to a reactive approach to Ebola.
The border regions of Uganda, DRC, South Sudan, Rwanda should be equipped with more health facilities generally, and a robust system of early detection of all major tropical disease outbreaks (Marburg, Mpox, Ebola, etc.) through prompt testing of all persons having symptoms, and strict isolation and quarantine of all persons who test positive.
Accurately and well contextualised messaging around Ebola, and other disease outbreaks, prompt testing and disease management of cases, should mitigate against the stigma associated with Ebola, prevent the panic such as we have seen with Ebola 2026, and alleviate the detrimental impact of incomplete or inaccurate messaging.