World Health Organization says Ebola outbreak in Uganda is over

Uganda has been declared free of Ebola, with the World Health Organization (WHO) confirming that the East African country had passed the mandatory 42-day monitoring period without any new cases.

WHO made the announcement at a joint news conference on Tuesday with Uganda’s Ministry of Health.

But the declaration came roughly a month after Uganda had declared that the local outbreak was over , based on its own analysis of the virus’s spread.

“We had assessed the risk, we had assessed the whole chain of transmission and the dynamics of importation of the virus in the country, and we knew that we were free from Ebola,” Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary for Uganda’s Health Ministry, told national broadcaster NTV.

“However, WHO had to wait because that’s the process. That’s the guideline.”

Atwine called on countries that had imposed travel restrictions on Uganda during the outbreak to lift them.

“Unless they have other reasons, they should definitely lift the restrictions off the country, and Ugandans should be free to travel to any country,” she said.

Uganda reported 20 Ebola infections in total, with its last confirmed case recorded on June 21. Two people died from the virus during the outbreak.