President Yoweri Museveni has pledged support for a regional task force aimed at tracking and containing the virus
Uganda has backed a proposal to establish a continental Ebola response coordination hub in its capital Kampala, the country’s presidency has said.
President Yoweri Museveni met with a delegation from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday, where officials discussed the regional Ebola situation and measures aimed at containing the virus.
Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya proposed creating an Incident Management Support Team in Uganda to coordinate surveillance and outbreak response efforts across the continent. Museveni endorsed the initiative and pledged Kampala’s support.
“Ebola only becomes deadly when there is lack of attention. Otherwise, it is very manageable,” the Ugandan leader said.
Museveni later confirmed the talks in a post on X, saying the proposed hub would strengthen “regional coordination and monitoring efforts,” adding that Uganda “welcomes and will support” the initiative.
According to the Africa CDC, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Uganda have together reported 744 suspected Ebola cases, including 83 confirmed infections. The agency also recorded 176 deaths among suspected cases as of Friday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday that the outbreak in the DR Congo has continued to expand, with more than 900 suspected cases now reported nationwide and 101 confirmed infections recorded so far.
The DR Congo declared the epidemic on May 15, marking the country’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified there in 1976. Later, the WHO classified the Bundibugyo strain detected in the country and neighboring Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern.
The Bundibugyo virus is a relatively rare strain of Ebola first identified in Uganda in 2007. Unlike the more common Zaire strain, there is currently no approved vaccine available against Bundibugyo Ebola.
Several countries have imposed emergency restrictions. Washington has banned non-citizens who recently visited DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan from entering the US. Bahrain and Jordan also restricted travelers from affected African nations, while neighboring African countries tightened border controls.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Moscow would provide “every possible assistance and support” in combating the outbreak.
