Uganda discharged its last Ebola patient and started counting 42 days
Uganda discharged its final Ebola patient on 16 July, starting the 42-day countdown to declaring the outbreak over. There were 20 confirmed cases and two deaths since May.
Uganda discharged its last hospitalised Ebola patient on Thursday and, with him out of the ward, the clock that matters started running: 42 days with no new confirmed case and the outbreak can be declared over.
Why 42 days?
Because it equals two maximum incubation periods for the virus. It is the World Health Organization’s rule for being sure the transmission chain is actually broken rather than merely paused. If a new confirmed case appears in that window, the count resets to day zero — that has happened in other outbreaks, which is why nobody is opening the champagne yet.
How big was the outbreak?
Smaller than feared. Declared on 15 May, it closed with 20 confirmed cases and two deaths as of 16 July. Fifteen of those cases were imported from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and five were locally acquired. Uganda’s health minister, Chris Baryomunsi, made the announcement alongside the WHO’s representative in the country. The strain involved is Bundibugyo, not Sudan virus.
The contrast next door is what worries people. While Uganda counts the days, the outbreak keeps spreading in eastern DR Congo, which is exactly where three quarters of Uganda’s cases came from — which is why border surveillance cannot ease off now. Bulletins are updated by WHO Africa.
Image: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
