“We have successfully controlled the Ebola outbreak in Uganda,” Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said at a ceremony in Mubende, the epicenter of the outbreak.

According to the WHO, an epidemic is said to be stopped when there is no new case for 42 consecutive days, i.e. twice the incubation period of Ebola.

The last confirmed patient with the virus was discharged from hospital on November 30, health authorities said.

“Uganda brought the Ebola outbreak to an early end by strengthening key control measures such as surveillance, contact tracing and infection, prevention and control,” according to Jane Ruth Aceng, adding that 142 cases have been confirmed in the country, and 55 people have died.

This disease reappeared on September 20, 2022 in central Uganda, with a first case from a so-called "Sudanese" strain, for which there is currently no vaccine.

But three experimental vaccines - one developed by the University of Oxford and the Jenner Institute in Britain, another by the Sabin Vaccine Institute in the United States and a third by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) - are currently being tested in Uganda, after first deliveries in December.

According to the WHO, the country has received 5,000 doses of vaccines.

Uganda, an East African country, has experienced seven Ebola epidemics, five of which with the so-called "Sudanese" strain, recalled the Minister of Health, who specified that the origin of the epidemic last September "is not yet known".

"Victoire"

"I commend Uganda for its robust and comprehensive response which culminated in today's victory over Ebola," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

"Uganda has shown that Ebola can be defeated when the whole system works together," he continued.

"Without vaccines and treatments, this was one of the most difficult Ebola outbreaks in the past five years, but Uganda stayed the course and continually refined its response." stressed Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

"Two months ago, it was feared that Ebola would cast a dark shadow over the country until 2023, as the epidemic spread to major cities such as Kampala and Jinja, but this victory starts the year on a note of great hope for Africa,” she continued.

“Although the epidemic in Uganda has been declared over, health authorities maintain surveillance and are ready to react quickly to any resumption”, however underlined the WHO, affirming that “neighboring countries remain on alert”.

Ebola is an often fatal viral hemorrhagic fever.

The disease owes its name to a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where it was discovered in 1976.

Uganda, an East African country, has had six episodes of Ebola, the last of which was in 2019. Four of them were caused by the so-called Sudanese strain.

Human transmission is through bodily fluids, with the main symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.

Infected people only become contagious after the onset of symptoms, after an incubation period ranging from 2 to 21 days.

The disease has six different strains, three of which (Bundibugyo, Sudan, Zaire) have already caused major epidemics.

Epidemics are difficult to contain, especially in urban areas.

© 2023 AFP