Uganda orders 21-day Ebola quarantine for returnees from DR Congo

Uganda has ordered citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to undergo a 21-day quarantine as it tightens precautions against Ebola. The measure was announced in Kampala by Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi on Sunday, alongside stronger screening at Entebbe International Airport and land crossings. Officials also said incoming travellers must complete contact forms so they can be reached if needed.

The Health Ministry said returnees with a travel history to the DRC will have to pay for their quarantine. Uganda says it currently has no active Ebola infections after ending its own outbreak in July. The country declared the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak over on 28 July, after recording 20 infections and two deaths, according to the ministry.

The new restrictions come as Ebola cases in Kenya and Nigeria have raised fresh concern about possible travel-linked exposure routes through Uganda. Swiss authorities have said a Ugandan-born woman married to a Swiss diplomat contracted Ebola during a visit to Uganda in September, and Nigeria confirmed her infection on 20 October after she travelled to Abuja. Baryomunsi challenged that conclusion at the briefing, saying relatives who had previously visited the DRC had met the woman in a Kampala suburb.

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that the information it had received did not show the woman herself had travelled to the DRC. Nigerian and Ugandan officials are investigating her movements and possible source of infection. The case has added pressure on health authorities in the region to clarify how the virus may have spread and whether there are any wider exposure chains that still need to be traced.

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The concern is heightened by another case involving a Kenyan man who travelled from the DRC through Uganda before flying to Nairobi on 3 October. He died two days later, and Kenya has since reported a second Ebola death. Both patients passed through Entebbe airport on the same day, although Ugandan officials said security footage showed no physical interaction between them.

Uganda's response reflects the wider challenge of monitoring cross-border movement in a region where people regularly travel for work, family and trade. The country's health authorities are now trying to balance the claim that Uganda is Ebola-free with the need to prevent any imported case from spreading. What remains unclear is the exact source of the infections under investigation and whether the new quarantine and screening measures will be enough to stop further transmission.

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