The ministry of health’s Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine, has declared that Uganda is Ebola-free.
Dr. Atwine shared the news on her Twitter account, saying that as of November 30, there were no Ebola cases.
“As of now, we have no Ebola patient admitted to our ETU. I can confidently say we have defeated Ebola. Thank you all who believed in the capacity Uganda has and worked with us to not only protect our citizens but also our neighbours,” she said.
The development also came after all 42 people who had been identified as contacts to the first confirmed Ebola case from Masaka district were discharged from institutional quarantine after showing no symptoms of the deadly virus.
Dr. Patrick Kasedwa, the Masaka City Health Officer who also coordinates the local surveillance activities, said that the discharged persons have been monitored for the last 21 days, which are regarded as the incubation period of the virus.
In September, Uganda recorded its first case of Ebola in Mubende District, Uganda. The confirmed case was a 24-year-old male resident of Ngabano village in the district’s Madudu Sub County who presented with EVD symptoms and later died.
After the disease claimed 19 lives, President Yoweri Museveni, 78, imposed a three-week lockdown in Mubende and Kasanda districts, in a bid to curb the spread of Ebola.
To date, the two districts are still under lockdown.