W.H.O. chief praises Uganda's efforts to limit spread of Ebola outbreak

The head of the World Health Organization visited Uganda on Monday and praised its efforts to limit the spread of an Ebola outbreak from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"The success rate in managing Ebola in Uganda has been good," World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a visit to Kampala on Monday. 

He singled out the government’s decision to cancel last week’s Martyr’s Day celebrations that normally attract huge crowds from across the region. 

"The system has been very vigilant in detecting cases and now there are 19 total cases, 15 imported and four are I think from Uganda who had contacts with them. So we're glad to witness that. I think the handle is steady we can see and Uganda should continue that way.”

Tedros said Uganda’s experience in managing public health emergencies has helped keep the case fatality rate to less than one percent. 

The WHO has helped train dozens of health workers for the country’s Ebola response.  

Daniel Kyabayinze is Director of Public Health at Ugandan Ministry of Health:

"The number of people [health workers] who will be needed is a moving target but we know that we shall be sending batches of 40 teams per time so those are the ones which are manageable to deploy at a time and we think Uganda will be setting up about four treatment units. We've already set up two laboratories along the border one in Mpondwe and one in Arua to help with the testing across the border.”

The WHO head met Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and said they discussed "cross-border collaboration". "

There is no need for restrictions since they affect the economy," said Tedros. "Restrictions don't really help... Addressing the epicentre is the solution."

Borders closing

One of the confirmed cases in Uganda was a Congolese citizen who had travelled to the United Arab Emirates before entering Uganda.

Two days later, the UAE announced it was banning entry to travellers arriving from the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan.

In Mauritius, L'Express newspaper reported on Monday that the island nation was also barring foreign travellers from the three countries.

This is the 17th Ebola outbreak to hit the DRC, a vast and unstable 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 together with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and other partners across the region.

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

Ebola, which is spread through close contact and bodily fluids, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.

The WHO and Africa CDC launched a $518 million plan on Friday to battle the outbreak over the next six months.

The epicentre of the current outbreak is the DRC's northeastern Ituri province, a region that is difficult to access region due to poor roads and is plagued by insecurity because of armed groups.