Ebola: Uganda registers second imported case

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Uganda has registered a second imported Ebola Bundibugyo Virus Disease case as health authorities intensify contact tracing and quarantine measures following the latest outbreak linked to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Colonel Dr Henry Kyobe Bosa, the National Incident Commander for Public Health Emergencies at the Ministry of Health, in an interview with New Vision on Sunday, May 17, 2026, said both confirmed cases involve Congolese nationals who entered Uganda seeking specialised medical treatment.

“Yes, but both of them, transmission never took place here in Uganda so that we don’t have local transmission. They are DRC nationals who came to Uganda to seek treatment,” Dr Kyobe said during an interview on Sunday.

The development comes days after the Ministry of Health confirmed Uganda’s first imported Ebola Bundibugyo case involving a 59-year-old Congolese man who died at Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Kampala.

Dr Kyobe said the two patients sought treatment at private health facilities in Kampala because they were referral cases from DR Congo.

“That’s why you saw them in the affluent facilities. The first case was a referral case of DRC nationals seeking better care in Uganda. One case went to Kibuli, another one came to Nakasero, but we have transferred him to Mulago National Referral Hospital,” he said.

He revealed that one of the patients who had been admitted at Nakasero Hospital had since been transferred to the Ebola isolation facility at Mulago for specialised management and monitoring.

“But one from Nakasero has since been retrieved. He’s with us at the isolation facility in Mulago,” he said.

103 identified for quarantine

Dr Kyobe noted that as of May 16, health authorities had identified at least 103 contacts linked to the confirmed Ebola cases, all of whom are being monitored and quarantined for 21 days as part of efforts to prevent local transmission.

“Some of them have admitted, their processes are on, and their contacts have been identified. We identified 103 so far,” Dr Kyobe said.

He explained that surveillance teams are currently retracing the movements of the infected individuals to determine all possible exposure points and contacts.

“So we are tracking the movement. We are trying to piece together the process to ensure that the track of these people too can actually be seen,” he added.

According to the Ministry of Health, all identified contacts are under strict quarantine and daily monitoring for symptoms associated with Ebola Virus Disease.

The latest developments have raised concern following reports from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that at least 88 people have died in the latest Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province in eastern DR Congo, where more than 400 suspected cases have been recorded.

However, Dr Kyobe sought to reassure the public, saying authorities currently have no evidence that the confirmed patients extensively used public transport while travelling within Uganda.

“These were affluent people. They were able to hire transport, so investigations so far suggest the risk remains controlled,” he said.

President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday, May 16, 2026, met Uganda’s national epidemics task force at Nakasero State Lodge following confirmation of an imported Ebola Bundibugyo Virus Disease case linked to the worsening outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a brief statement released after the meeting, Museveni sought to calm public fears as health authorities intensified nationwide surveillance and response measures.

“This evening, I met the task force on epidemics in Nakasero. We discussed the Ebola situation in the region, and we will communicate the way forward. There is no cause for alarm,” the President said on his official X account.

Uganda has since heightened Ebola surveillance at border points, hospitals and high-risk districts, while emergency response teams continue screening, isolation and community sensitisation efforts.

The Ministry of Health has urged the public to remain calm, maintain proper hand hygiene and immediately report anyone showing symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, unexplained bleeding and severe weakness.

Ebola is a highly infectious viral disease spread through direct contact with infected body fluids or contaminated materials and can be fatal if not detected and treated early.