Uganda imposes 21-day quarantine on all citizens returning from DR Congo

Uganda will quarantine returning citizens who have been to the Democratic Republic of Congo for 21 days at their own cost, the health ministry announced on Sunday, as Kampala tightens controls against Ebola.

More than 4,800 people have died in DR Congo since May in the country's deadliest outbreak of the disease. The virus has since spread to several other countries.

The restrictions follow concerns after two people who had travelled through Uganda tested positive for Ebola — one in Kenya, one in Nigeria. The Kenyan businessman died two days after arriving in Nairobi; the country has since confirmed eight other cases. A second woman, related to that businessman, also died over the weekend.

The health ministry said travellers who had been to DR Congo would not be allowed to transit through Uganda. It also announced intensified screening at Entebbe International Airport and all land border crossings, supported by checkpoints on designated roads.

Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi told BBC Newsday that only essential travellers from DR Congo would be allowed in and would face "intense public health measures." He added: "All these are measures to ensure that we keep Uganda free of Ebola."

The patient in Nigeria is the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat who had travelled to the Ugandan capital for a holiday, according to Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Uganda and Nigeria are both working to establish her complete travel history and possible routes of exposure.

The ministry said the 60 people who had been monitored after coming into contact with the Kenyan Ebola patient had all been discharged.

Uganda's health ministry permanent secretary Diana Atwine said CCTV footage showed no physical interaction between the two patients, who had passed through Entebbe on the same day. Uganda recorded 20 Ebola cases and two deaths during the 2022 outbreak in DR Congo, but the World Health Organization declared the country free of the disease in August.