Daijiworld Media Network - Kampala
Kampala, Aug 3: The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Monday praised Uganda for successfully containing its latest Ebola outbreak, attributing the achievement to strong national leadership and coordinated response measures.
Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya made the remarks on social media platform X after co-chairing a meeting in Kampala with World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Yakub Janabi and officials from Uganda's Ministry of Health.
"We commended Uganda for successfully containing the Ebola outbreak through strong national leadership and coordinated action," Kaseya posted.
He stressed that the gains must be safeguarded through sustained preparedness, vigilant disease surveillance and stronger cross-border coordination to prevent fresh transmission and enhance regional health security.
Uganda officially declared the end of its Ebola outbreak on July 28.
The declaration came ahead of the World Health Organization's standard 42-day observation period following the discharge of the last confirmed patient. Uganda's final Ebola patient was discharged on July 16 after testing negative for the virus.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has said the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has become the largest ever recorded in the country, surpassing the 2018-2020 epidemic.
According to the WHO's latest disease outbreak report released on Saturday, the DRC had recorded 3,605 confirmed Ebola cases caused by the Bundibugyo virus as of Thursday, including 1,587 deaths, resulting in a case fatality rate of 44 per cent.
The previous largest outbreak in the country, which affected eastern DRC between 2018 and 2020, recorded 3,317 confirmed cases.
The current outbreak, initially limited to the Mongbwalu health zone in Ituri province, has spread over the past two months to 49 health zones across five provinces -- Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo.
The WHO also reported that 151 healthcare workers have contracted the virus during the current outbreak, with 44 deaths, highlighting continued gaps in infection prevention and control measures at health facilities.