Uganda has closed its border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo as authorities intensify efforts to contain the spread of Ebola following a sharp rise in suspected infections linked to the outbreak in eastern Congo.
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The closure was announced by Uganda’s National Task Force on Ebola Response, which said the decision was taken over growing concerns about cross-border transmission between the two neighbouring countries.
Uganda and DR Congo share extensive border communities, trade routes and population movement corridors across East and Central Africa, raising fears that the outbreak could spread further if not urgently contained.
The development comes less than two weeks after Uganda recorded its first Ebola case involving a Congolese patient who crossed into the country seeking medical treatment. The patient later died in intensive care in Kampala on May 14 after developing bleeding-related symptoms associated with the virus.
Under the new border measures, Ugandan authorities said only authorised Ebola response personnel, humanitarian workers, cargo and food transport operators, and security officials would be allowed to cross between both countries.
All approved travellers will undergo strict health screening, documentation procedures and continuous monitoring at designated border entry points.
The government also directed anyone returning from Congo to undergo mandatory 21-day self-isolation under the supervision of health authorities and district surveillance teams.
Schools in border communities will remain open, but they must comply with health ministry protocols, including compulsory temperature screening for students arriving from Congo.
District officials have also been instructed to strictly enforce Ebola prevention guidelines, while media organisations are expected to devote daily prime-time programming to public sensitisation campaigns on the outbreak.
According to the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Congo had confirmed 101 Ebola cases and 10 deaths as of May 25, although the actual scale of the outbreak is believed to be significantly higher.
He said more than 900 suspected infections and 220 suspected deaths had already been reported in Congo, bringing the broader number of reported and suspected cases close to 1,000.
Tedros also disclosed that Uganda recently confirmed two additional Ebola infections among healthcare workers, raising the country’s total confirmed cases to seven, including one death.
The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, a relatively rare variant first identified in Uganda in 2007.
Health authorities and international agencies have warned that there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the strain, increasing concern over the speed of transmission across Central Africa.
The World Health Organisation had earlier declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, citing the growing regional risk posed by cross-border movement and weak healthcare systems in affected areas.
African governments and international partners have secured nearly $500 million in pledges and commitments to strengthen Ebola response efforts across affected and high-risk countries in Central and East Africa.
The funding package includes about $160 million pledged by the World Bank for Congo’s response operations, $82 million from the United States, and roughly $57 million from European partners to support surveillance, treatment and containment measures.
Last week, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had released up to $60 million from its emergency response fund to support efforts to contain the outbreak.
The emergency funding was announced days after the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak a global public health emergency, warning that the Bundibugyo strain spreading across parts of Central Africa lacks an approved vaccine or targeted treatment.
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