Ebola outbreak: WHO's Tedros visits Uganda, bordering the DRC Ituri province epicenter

The director-general of the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) , Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visited Uganda on Monday, which borders the epicenter of the latest Ebola outbreak in Ituri province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) .

The WHO has declared a public health emergency over the current outbreak , which was announced on May 15 in the northeastern DRC.

Tedros was in the DRC last week , in the gold mining hub of Ituri province that has been at the center of the latest outbreak, involving more than 500 confirmed cases.

Tedros praised local authorities and their success in largely containing the handful of cases that have come across the border.

"I am in Uganda, where the government has mounted a prompt and capable response to the outbreak of Ebola," he wrote.

"Screening at the borders helped detect cases arriving from neighboring DRC, and the country's surveillance, testing and case management systems are doing steady work," he said.

Tedros said there had been 19 confirmed cases in Uganda, 14 among people who entered from DRC and five Ugandan national. Two had died, he said, offering their loved ones his condolences. He pledged continued WHO support, in conjuction with the Africa CDC, in combating and controlling the outbreak.

Asked by a Reuters reporter about Uganda's decision in late May to close its border to DRC, he said that blanket travel restrictions did not work, "so I hope they [Ugandan authorities] reconsider."