Nairobi (EFE).- The World Health Organization announced on Wednesday the end of the outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in Uganda, while warning that the disease remains out of control in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where 2,715 deaths have already been recorded.
August 26 marks 42 days since the last confirmed patient in Uganda was discharged. Dr. Marie Belizaire, the WHO’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, noted during a Regional Committee for Africa briefing that this duration represents two full incubation cycles without any new infections, a critical milestone in containing the outbreak.
Speaking at a special press conference during the 76th session of the organization’s Regional Committee for Africa, which is being held until Friday in Addis Ababa, the official added that this guarantees that no residual risk of Ebola remains in the country and marks the end of the outbreak.
The declaration that Uganda is free of the disease comes after the Ugandan government announced on July 28 that the country was “Ebola-free,” following 20 confirmed infections, including 15 cases and two deaths considered imported from the DRC.
According to the latest report from the Congolese Ministry of Health, with data collected until Monday, there are 5,665 confirmed cases, including 2,715 deaths, with a total of 1,245 people recovered and 792 patients hospitalized or in isolation, under a fatality rate that has climbed to 48%.
Border risk
In this regard, Belizaire warned that the Central African Republic is the «country at highest risk,» followed closely by South Sudan, as the epidemic has reached its adjacent borders.
The WHO official also remarked that the outbreak cannot be treated as a «merely national event» due to mobility corridors along mining routes, trade paths, and cross-border movements into neighboring countries.
She underscored that the virus’s spread is linked to human migration; therefore, mitigating the risk requires border oversight, strict entry point screening, and international collaboration.
One of the difficulties in fighting this outbreak is the increase in deaths occurring outside Ebola Treatment Centers (ETC), which accounted for 58.7% in week 34 (from August 17 to 22).
Belizaire explained that many fatalities are happening outside of treatment facilities because patients who die at home haven’t been isolated and their contacts haven’t been traced, these situations, including unsafe burial practices, can inadvertently create new opportunities for the virus to spread.
Regarding medical treatments, the official reported that there is currently no evidence that the Zaire Ebola vaccine provides cross-protection against the Bundibugyo strain, though she clarified that a phase 3 clinical trial will begin to evaluate if such protection is possible.
So far, there is no specific vaccine for this outbreak, and clinical trials are in phase 1 in humans.
The financial situation remains a challenge, since of the 518 million dollars needed to combat the disease, only 333.2 million have been disbursed, while formalized commitments reach 156.5 million, far from the 1.3 billion dollars initially promised by the international community.
The WHO director for emergency preparedness and response concluded by stating that, moving forward, the focus must be on accelerating the delivery of pledged funds and ensuring that available resources are allocated efficiently. EFE
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