Uganda to discharge last Ebola patient, begin countdown to outbreak's end

Uganda is expected to discharge its last Ebola patient on Thursday, marking a key milestone in its response to the outbreak and triggering the 42-day countdown required before the country can be declared Ebola-free.

Government spokesperson Alan Kasujja said the final patient would be released from the isolation unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala on Thursday morning.

"When that happens, Uganda starts counting down," Kasujja said in a post on X. "If 42 days pass without a single new case, World Health Organization guidelines stipulate that we will be declared Ebola-free."

According to Uganda's Ministry of Health, the country has recorded 19 confirmed Ebola cases linked to the Bundibugyo strain, including 17 recoveries, one patient currently in isolation and two deaths. Five of the cases were locally transmitted, while 15 were imported from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The development comes as the wider outbreak in the DRC continues to worsen. As of Wednesday, the Congolese government had reported 2,011 confirmed Ebola cases and 754 confirmed deaths.

The WHO declared the outbreak in the DRC a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in May. The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, is the third-largest recorded outbreak of that strain.