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Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi told a news conference in Kampala on October 25 that Ugandan citizens returning with a history of travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo will face mandatory 21-day quarantine. The ministry stated that those affected must cover the costs themselves while the country maintains its Ebola-free status declared in late July. Baryomunsi framed the step as essential to blocking importation of the Bundibugyo strain that continues to rage across the border.
Reuters reported that the measure follows heightened concern after individuals who passed through Uganda later tested positive for Ebola in Kenya and Nigeria during early October. Kenya’s first patient had traveled from Congo via Uganda before flying from Entebbe airport to Nairobi on October 3 and died two days later according to Ugandan health officials. Nigeria’s case involved a Ugandan-born woman married to a Swiss diplomat who transited through Uganda though Swiss authorities indicated she likely contracted the virus there while Ugandan investigators continue reviewing genomic and travel data with international partners.
Uganda’s Ministry of Health recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths during its own outbreak that began in May with most infections imported from Congo before the World Health Organization declared the country clear of the disease in August. The ministry’s permanent secretary Diana Atwine told reporters that all 60 contacts linked to the Kenyan Ebola patient completed their 21-day monitoring period without symptoms and have been discharged from follow-up. A review of Entebbe airport CCTV confirmed the Kenyan and Nigerian cases had no physical interaction despite traveling on the same day.
World Health Organization data places the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo at more than 9,800 confirmed cases and 4,700 deaths by late October making it the largest recorded for the Bundibugyo strain. The virus has spread across eight Congolese provinces since emerging in May with a case fatality ratio hovering near 48 percent according to WHO assessments. Uganda shares a long porous border with Congo where earlier cross-border movement drove its own imported cases earlier this year.
The ministry has intensified traveler screening at Entebbe International Airport and all land border crossings with additional checkpoints along key roads. All incoming passengers by air land or water must now complete a passenger locator form that records contact details for follow-up the ministry said. Nonessential travelers from Congo will be turned back at the nearest crossing at their own expense while illegal entrants face prosecution under the updated rules.
Baryomunsi stressed that decisions must rest on scientific evidence rather than politics when responding to questions about the Nigerian patient’s travel history. The health ministry reiterated that no active Ebola cases exist inside Uganda while officials coordinate with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on regional response. Earlier border restrictions imposed in May had already limited nonessential crossings except for humanitarian cargo and essential workers who undergo screening.
