Uganda forces returnees from Congo to fund three-week isolation

Uganda's health ministry announced on Sunday that citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo must complete a 21-day quarantine period at their own expense. The directive aims to prevent the Ebola virus from entering the country as the outbreak intensifies nearby.

The new protocol bars travelers who have recently visited DR Congo from transiting through Uganda. Authorities have increased screening efforts at Entebbe International Airport and all land border crossings, with additional checks at specific road checkpoints. Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi stated that only essential travelers from DR Congo will be admitted, subjecting them to what he described as intense public health measures.

Baryomunsi told the BBC that these steps are designed to keep Uganda free of the disease. He noted that the country shares a border with DR Congo, where transmission continues, and that communities remain closely linked through trade, travel, and family ties. The minister emphasized that recent cases in neighboring countries demonstrate the risk has not passed.

The outbreak in DR Congo has killed more than 4,800 people since May, marking it as the deadliest in the country's history. The virus has spread to several other nations. Uganda previously recorded 20 cases and two deaths early in the outbreak but was declared free of the disease by the World Health Organization in August.

Tighter controls follow questions about two individuals who tested positive in Kenya and Nigeria after passing through Entebbe airport on the same day. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, identified the Nigerian patient as the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat. The Kenyan patient was a businessman with interests in DR Congo who died two days after arriving in Nairobi.

Diana Atwine, the health ministry's permanent secretary, confirmed that CCTV footage showed no physical interaction between the two travelers in Uganda. The ministry reported that 60 people monitored after contact with the Kenyan patient have all been discharged. Kenya has since confirmed eight other cases, including a relative of the businessman who died over the weekend.

While officials initially said the Nigerian woman only transited through Uganda, the ministry stated on Sunday that it is working with Nigeria to establish her full travel history and possible routes of exposure. The Bundibugyo species causing the outbreak is rare, and no vaccine or specific treatment is currently available, though trials are underway.