Uganda has entered the 42-day countdown that precedes an official end-of-outbreak declaration for Ebola, after the last confirmed patient tested negative twice and was discharged from care, the World Health Organization’s Africa office reported.
WHO said Uganda declared the outbreak on 15 May 2026, and as of 16 July there had been 20 confirmed cases and two deaths, with most cases linked to cross-border importation from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The report described an intensive response that included contact tracing, infection prevention and control, laboratory testing, community engagement, and strengthened surveillance in high-risk districts and at points of entry.
Because transmission is still ongoing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO noted there remains a risk of new imported cases during the countdown period. If that happens, the 42-day clock resets, not as a failure, but as part of how cross-border outbreaks are managed.
