Uganda declared an official end to its Ebola outbreak.
Authorities in Uganda have officially announced the end of its latest Ebola Outbreak after having not reported any new cases for 42 successive days. The announcement was made on Wednesday 11th January 2023 in the course of a ceremony that was held in Central Mubende District which was at the core of the outbreak.
An Ebola outbreak is considered over if no new cases have been recorded after 42 days which is twice the incubation period, as stated by the World Health Organisation(WHO). “11th January 2023 marked 113 days since the start of the Ebola outbreak in Uganda,” the health minister Dr. Jane Ruth Orero said.
She urges the population to be on the lookout and put into practice the standard operating procedures. The Ebola outbreak, which was Uganda’s 8th, had 143 reported cases, 22 probable cases, and 55 deaths.
To fight the Outbreak aggressive contact tracing was done by officials to root out friends and relatives who had been in contact with the infected individuals. The Outbreak that took place back in 2012 in the Kibaale district in the western part of the country had 42 confirmed cases and 17 deaths but it was officially announced to be over in a period of less than 3 months.