Uganda confirms three new Ebola cases, bringing national total to five
Uganda's Health Ministry announced that three new Ebola cases have been confirmed in the country, bringing the national total to five. All cases were detected in the Mpondwe border area near the DR Congo border. WHO regional response team has been deployed to Kasese.
Uganda's Health Ministry announced that laboratory confirmation has been completed for three new cases detected around the Mpondwe border crossing in the Kasese region; the total number of Ebola cases in the country has reached 5. Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said at a press conference 'a direct epidemiological link to carriers crossing from DR Congo border crossings has been identified for the new cases; the contact tracing process covers 247 people'.
World Health Organization Africa Regional Director Matshidiso Moeti commented that 'spillover of the DR Congo outbreak into neighbouring countries was the scenario we most feared; Uganda's rapid response and the limited availability of Ervebo vaccine stocks are critical factors managing the situation'. The Mpondwe border crossing has been temporarily closed to commercial transit; humanitarian corridor protocols have been activated. The main outbreak in DR Congo's Ituri province continues at 687 cases and 165 deaths.
The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat called for an emergency health ministers' meeting in Arusha on 28 May. Mpondwe Public Health Centre opened a temporary 84-bed isolation unit; CDC Africa and Médecins Sans Frontières dispatched additional personnel. Health guidance is not a substitute for personalised medical advice.
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