Diana Atwine has highlighted the global risks from emerging diseases at a biological security conference in Sochi
Uganda managed to stop a recent outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus thanks to cooperation with Russian partners, a Health Ministry official from the east African country said on Tuesday, according to the Russian public health agency Rospotrebnadzor.
Speaking at the 5th International ‘Scientific and Practical Conference Global Threats to Biological Security: Problems and Solutions’ held in Sochi, Dr. Diana Atwine, Uganda’s permanent secretary at the Health Ministry, emphasized that the successful efforts to halt the cross-border transmission of Ebola were made possible “thanks to joint efforts with our Russian partners, swift containment, and targeted interventions.”
Atwine also underscored the ongoing global risks posed by emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. “The scale and intensity of these outbreaks have increased, driven by multiple factors related to both national and global dynamics,” she warned.
Uganda officially declared a new Ebola outbreak on January 30, after a 32-year-old nurse at Mulago National Referral Hospital died from multiple organ failure. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 14 cases ended up being reported: 12 confirmed and two probable, with four deaths. The last confirmed patient was discharged on March 14.
In response to the outbreak, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced in February the allocation of an additional $2 million to support Uganda’s containment efforts.
Rospotrebnadzor confirmed in January it had offered its support to Uganda in conducting an epidemiological investigation and deploying anti-epidemic measures. The agency also delivered a mobile laboratory to the country in 2024, aimed at facilitating the rapid diagnosis of severe infectious diseases.
Ebola, a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever, is spread through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or tissue. Symptoms often include high fever, fatigue, headaches, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, and internal or external bleeding.
On the sidelines of the same conference in Sochi, Rospotrebnadzor head Anna Popova held bilateral talks with Burundi’s minister of health, Liduine Baradahana. The officials reviewed ongoing collaboration in the area of infectious disease management and biosafety development.
Two of Burundi’s three Biosafety Level 3 laboratories – equipped to detect and study hazardous pathogens – were established with Russian assistance, the agency said. This includes a mobile laboratory transferred in 2024.
Baradahana acknowledged the contributions of Russian scientists in responding to a recent monkeypox outbreak, emphasizing that their support enabled Burundi to implement “effective diagnostic capabilities for the infection.”
