Uganda Tightens Ebola Border Controls, Requires Returnees to Pay for Quarantine
New measures come as officials investigate how a woman who traveled from Uganda to Nigeria contracted the virus.
Uganda is reinforcing its border controls and will require citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo to pay for a 21-day quarantine period, the Ministry of Health announced Sunday. The strengthened measures are aimed at preventing the spread of the Ebola virus.
Uganda has not recorded any confirmed Ebola cases since declaring its outbreak over on July 28, but it has implemented border controls since May, restricting nonessential travel and subjecting essential travelers to screening. Under the new directives, nonessential Congolese travelers will be returned to their country at their own expense, and those attempting to enter Uganda illegally face prosecution.
Screening has been intensified at Entebbe International Airport and land borders. All arrivals, including diplomats and United Nations personnel, are required to complete a passenger locator form and undergo health screenings.
Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi addressed concerns about a woman who became Nigeria's first Ebola case, noting that Ugandan investigators have not yet confirmed if she traveled to Congo. The woman, married to a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria, reportedly held both Ugandan and another passport and had relatives in both Uganda and Congo. Switzerland's foreign ministry indicated the woman likely contracted Ebola while traveling in Uganda, not Congo.
Baryomunsi stated that Nigerian authorities have not provided all necessary information and that investigators are collaborating with international partners to review genomic findings and verify the woman's movements and contacts within Uganda and en route to Abuja. Findings will be shared once verified.
Nigeria's Health Minister Muhammad Pate previously suggested the woman's infection showed a close relationship to Kenya's first Ebola case, though he cautioned this did not confirm the transmission route. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had noted that both patients passed through Entebbe airport on October 3.
Uganda also reported that all 60 contacts of Kenya's first Ebola patient, who had traveled through Uganda, completed their 21-day monitoring period without symptoms and were released. The Kenyan patient, who died on October 5, was followed by eight more infections, including a relative who died on Friday, bringing Kenya's death toll to two.
Uganda has dispatched Ebola experts to Congo to assist in containing the Bundibugyo Ebola strain.