Uganda has beaten back the deadly Ebola virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially recognised the country for successfully ending the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, after health authorities went 42 straight days without recording a new confirmed case.
The milestone was confirmed on August 26, 2026, when WHO issued Uganda with a certificate recognising the successful interruption of Ebola transmission.
The certificate, issued by the WHO Regional Office for Africa, formally marks the end of the May 2026 Ebola outbreak.
It was signed by Dr Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in Kampala.
Uganda completed 42 consecutive days without a reported new confirmed case, allowing WHO to recognise the outbreak as successfully interrupted.
The absence of a new confirmed case throughout the period is therefore a major sign that the chain of transmission was successfully broken.
WHO also praised the people who stood at the centre of the fight against the virus. The organisation recognised Uganda’s national leadership, frontline health workers, communities and partners for their contribution to bringing the outbreak under control.
Frontline health workers were particularly important in the response, as they were responsible for handling suspected and confirmed cases while putting measures in place to prevent further infections.
Communities also played a critical role by cooperating with health authorities and supporting disease surveillance and response activities.
The recognition applies specifically to the May 2026 outbreak event, which was caused by the Bundibugyo virus. The latest WHO certificate does not merely celebrate a drop in cases; it formally records that Uganda achieved the required period without a new confirmed case.
The country recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths, but health teams managed to stop the virus from turning into a widespread community outbreak. The Ebola outbreak was declared on May 15, 2026, after infections linked to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were detected in Uganda.
The virus was the Bundibugyo strain, the same Ebola species first identified in western Uganda in 2007.
With DRC battling a major Ebola outbreak, Uganda quickly went on alert. Health authorities stepped up surveillance, testing, contact tracing and isolation of suspected cases.
Confirmed patients were taken to isolation and treatment facilities, while people who had come into contact with them were monitored for 21 days. WHO reported that hundreds of contacts were followed, while laboratories and surveillance systems were strengthened at border points.
Uganda also assessed hundreds of health facilities to identify gaps in protective equipment, medicines, waste management and staff training.
By the end of the outbreak, Uganda had recorded 20 confirmed cases. Fifteen were imported from DRC, while five were secondary infections among contacts and health workers. Eighteen people recovered, while two died.
On July 16, Uganda discharged its final Ebola patient , a Congolese national who had recovered after treatment at the Mulago National Referral Isolation Centre. He tested negative twice before being discharged. That discharge triggered the final 42-day countdown, during which health authorities had to keep watching for any new case.
There is an important distinction in the timeline: Uganda’s last locally transmitted Ugandan patient had been discharged on June 16, while the last confirmed patient overall was discharged on July 16.
On July 28, Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi declared Uganda Ebola-free after the country completed the required monitoring period for the locally transmitted outbreak. The Ministry said intensive surveillance had detected no new cases.
But the country did not let its guard down. With Ebola still raging across the border in DRC, Uganda kept surveillance and border measures in place.
In Parliament, Baryomunsi told MPs on July 16 that there had been no new confirmed cases for 21 days, but warned that Uganda still had to complete the 42-day period before the outbreak could be considered over under WHO guidelines. Shadow Health Minister Sheilah Amaniyo praised the containment effort but attacked the government’s communication, saying poor messaging had made the international community believe Uganda was a major Ebola hotspot and contributed to tourists cancelling trips.
Health Committee Chair, however, applauded the government’s response. Later, Arua City Woman MP Mourine Osoru questioned why border markets remained closed after Uganda had been declared Ebola-free. Baryomunsi defended the restrictions, warning that opening them while DRC was still experiencing active transmission could allow Ebola to return to Uganda.
Now, WHO and the Africa CDC officially welcomed the end of Uganda’s Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak after 42 consecutive days without a new confirmed case following the July 16 discharge.
