Uganda orders 21-day quarantine for returning citizens as Ebola spreads in DR Congo

New quarantine rules at the border

The health ministry announced on Sunday, 25 October, that Ugandans returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo must undergo 21 days of quarantine at their own cost. Travellers who have been in DR Congo will not be allowed to transit through Uganda, and only essential travellers from the country will be admitted. Screening has been stepped up at Entebbe International Airport and at all land border crossings, supported by checkpoints on designated roads. Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi, speaking to the BBC's Newsday programme, said the measures aim to keep the country free of the virus.

“All these are measures to ensure that we keep Uganda free of Ebola.”

Two cases linked to Entebbe

Two travellers who passed through Entebbe airport on the same day later tested positive, one in Kenya and one in Nigeria. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said the Nigerian patient is the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat who had travelled to Kampala for a holiday. The Kenyan man had come from DR Congo, where he had business interests, and died two days after reaching Nairobi. Kenya has since confirmed eight other cases, and a second woman related to him died over the weekend. Diana Atwine, the health ministry's permanent secretary, said CCTV footage showed no physical interaction between the two patients. The ministry said all 60 people monitored after contact with the Kenyan patient have been discharged, and Uganda recorded 20 Ebola cases earlier in the outbreak before the World Health Organization declared it free of the disease in August.

Nurse killed in attack on responders

The WHO said a nurse was killed and another health worker severely injured on Saturday, 24 October, while responding to an Ebola alert in Bafwasende, in the eastern Tshopo province of DR Congo. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X on Sunday, 25 October, calling for responders to be able to work safely. Local authorities had not commented on the attack or on any suspects. Responders say some team members have been held captive in designated health zones and that teams conducting safe burials have been threatened. In September, a politician was beaten to death in North Kivu after publicly defending the government's response.

“Everyone working to protect communities from this deadly disease must be able to work in dignity and safety. Healthcare must always be protected.”

Mohamed Yakub Janabi, the WHO's regional director for Africa, also condemned the attack on X.

“Misinformation and fear must never fuel violence.”

Disputed toll and spread

The figures differ by source and date. The BBC reports more than 4,500 deaths in DR Congo since May, while Janabi told Lusa that 9,704 confirmed cases and 4,687 deaths had been recorded by 20 October. The health ministry's most recent data show more than 9,800 cases and more than 4,700 deaths since May, making it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history. The National Institute of Public Health has counted more than 9,000 confirmed cases and over 4,300 deaths. The outbreak has now been reported in four countries across eastern, central and western Africa.

Delays, myths and local trust

Medair doctor Pierre-Oliver Ngadjole says the high death toll reflects delays in treatment rather than the virus itself. Patients often reach hospitals too late, and in the rainy season roads become impassable, with some patients needing days of travel and several river crossings. Rumours that there was no vaccine or cure undermined the willingness of people to seek treatment early, although no approved vaccine is currently available for the Bundibugyo strain. At the Katwa treatment centre in Butembo, over 70 of the 252 patients admitted have died so far, according to Ngadjole. In Nyankunde, WHO and its partners held 32 dialogues with more than 1,500 community leaders, and daily community alerts rose from a maximum of 11 to between 60 and 70 in September, with no new attacks there since July.