The World Health Organisation (WHO) has defended Uganda’s decision to declare the end of its Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak before completing the conventional 42-day waiting period, saying the country prioritized stopping transmission over procedural timelines.
Uganda discharged its last confirmed Ebola patient from the National Isolation and Treatment Centre in Mulago on July 16, 2026, and officially declared the outbreak over on July 28, less than two weeks later. The move sparked debate, with some observers questioning why the country did not wait the standard 42 days after the last confirmed case.
Responding to journalists on Tuesday, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Yakub Janabi, said Uganda’s response should be judged by results, not timelines.
“Uganda’s actions should be judged by the effectiveness of its response rather than strict adherence to procedural timelines,” Dr Janabi said.
Dr Janabi, who is in Uganda with a delegation from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) led by Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya, noted that while Uganda had declared its outbreak over, the wider regional response was ongoing.
He said Uganda remains actively involved in efforts to contain the outbreak in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where authorities had confirmed 3,605 cases and 1,587 deaths by Monday.
Although Uganda and the DRC declared their outbreaks on the same day in May, Uganda registered only 20 confirmed cases. Fifteen of those were imported infections involving Congolese nationals who had crossed into Uganda seeking medical care.
Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi said Uganda has since shifted focus to supporting the response in eastern DRC. “As of Monday, 58 Ugandan health specialists had been deployed to Kasenyi, on the western shores of Lake Albert in Ituri Province, as well as Aru Territory, which borders Uganda’s Arua District,” Dr Baryomunsi said.
Both WHO and Africa CDC described Uganda’s handling of the outbreak as a model for other countries. They noted Uganda recorded a case fatality rate of about 10 per cent, compared to approximately 44 per cent in the DRC, where nearly half of confirmed patients have died.
Despite the international praise, Uganda’s response faced criticism domestically. Some officials questioned whether an outbreak needed to be declared at all, arguing it would damage the economy.
Allan Kasujja, Executive Director of the Uganda Media Centre and the government’s communications lead during the outbreak, repeatedly argued that Uganda was being unfairly grouped with the DRC in announcements despite dealing largely with imported cases and a handful of infected health workers.
Asked about the concerns, Dr Janabi said WHO had been clear on Uganda’s situation. “WHO had consistently communicated that Uganda was responding to imported cases and rejected suggestions that the organisation had misrepresented the country’s situation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Africa CDC Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya criticised the United States for maintaining travel restrictions on Uganda despite the successful containment. Kaseya described the restrictions as unnecessary and accused the U.S. of applying double standards. “France had also reported an imported Ebola Bundibugyo case from the DRC but had not faced similar travel measures,” Dr Kaseya said.