The declaration followed 42 days of monitoring after the last locally infected patient was discharged on June 16, the ministry has said
The Ugandan Health Ministry declared the country free of Ebola on Tuesday, more than two months after an outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of the virus infected 20 people and killed two.
Of Uganda’s 20 confirmed cases, 15 were imported from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), while five were locally acquired, the Ugandan government has said. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported no new infections after June 21 and said 18 patients recovered, with four health workers among those infected.
The epidemic remains active in DR Congo, where the Health Ministry reported 3,262 confirmed infections and 1,437 deaths as of Tuesday. Nearly 90% of cases have been recorded in war-torn Ituri Province, which borders Uganda and South Sudan.
In a statement published on X, the East African country’s Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi said “Uganda is officially Ebola free” after the last patient with a locally transmitted infection was discharged on June 16.
“Unlike previous Ebola outbreaks that informed the current 42-day declaration policy, Uganda’s 2026 Ebola outbreak arose from a fully documented importation event,” he stated.
In a separate statement cited by Reuters, Baryomunsi said the declaration followed the “successful completion” of 42 days of monitoring that began upon the patient’s discharge.
The WHO, however, said Uganda’s 42-day countdown should have begun on July 16 after the last confirmed patient tested negative twice and was discharged. The agency said the outbreak could be declared over if no new cases emerged during that period.
Uganda has experienced several Ebola outbreaks since its first recorded epidemic in 2000, which infected 425 people and killed 224. Its previous outbreak, caused by the Sudan virus, ended in April 2025 after 14 confirmed and probable cases and four deaths.
The Health Ministry has said the latest outbreak differed from previous epidemics because the source and route of the imported infections were known. It added that all “transmission chains were completely characterized and reconstructed, and all identified contacts were institutionally quarantined and completed the mandatory 21-day follow-up without evidence of further transmission.”
