WHO chief visits Ebola-hit Uganda

The head of the World Health Organisation on Monday visited Uganda, where a deadly Ebola outbreak has killed two people after spreading from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

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

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently also visited the DRC, which has seen 515 confirmed Ebola infections, including 91 deaths, according to the UN health agency.

“I am in Uganda, where the government has mounted a prompt and capable response to the outbreak of Ebola,” Tedros wrote on X.

“Screening at the borders helped detect cases arriving from neighbouring DRC, and the country’s surveillance, testing and case management systems are doing steady work.”

The WHO chief early on Monday met a senior Ugandan health ministry official, a WHO spokesman in Geneva told AFP.

“Of the 19 confirmed cases so far, 14 were among people who entered from DRC and five are Ugandan nationals,” Tedros said on X.

“Sadly, two people from DRC have died, and our thoughts are with their families,” he added.

It is the 17th Ebola outbreak to hit the DRC, a vast central African country of more than 100 million people.

There is no specific vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo Ebola strain behind the latest outbreak.

Tedros said the WHO was supporting Uganda alongside the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and other partners across the region “as the country leads this response”.

“With continued collaboration, I am confident this outbreak can be brought under control,” he added.

AFP