Uganda has tightened border controls in response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has now spread to Nigeria and Kenya and become the fastest-growing and most widespread on record.
The outbreak, which began in the DRC in May, has infected nearly 10,000 people and killed more than 4,700, according to DRC data from 21 October. The epicentre is Ituri province, where 3,298 people have died. The virus has spread to seven other provinces.
Uganda, which was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization in August after 42 consecutive days without new cases, announced new restrictions on Sunday. The health ministry said citizens returning from neighbouring DRC must spend 21 days in quarantine at their own expense. Anyone who has been in the DRC cannot transit through Uganda, including on chartered flights. Non-essential Congolese travellers will be sent back through the nearest border crossing, and those entering illegally face prosecution.
"The end of local transmission does not mean the risk has ended," the ministry said in a statement. "We share a border with the DRC, where transmission continues, and our communities remain closely connected through trade, travel and family ties. The recent cases involving travellers from the region further underscore the need to remain vigilant."
Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths during its outbreak, with the most recent case confirmed on 21 June.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's only confirmed case, a 42-year-old Swiss citizen who is the wife of an embassy worker in Abuja, was flown to Switzerland on Monday. She had travelled to Uganda with her husband before returning to Nigeria and is believed to have contracted the virus in Uganda, according to Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Uganda's health ministry said on 23 October that she had no symptoms when she left Uganda.
Nigerian health authorities have identified 53 of the patient's contacts, including health workers, relatives and household staff, and have widened the search for potential cases by tracing a further nine contacts. Her husband has not shown symptoms and remains in isolation.
Nigeria's health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, said in a post on X that her condition was "much improved, stable, conscious, communicating, and her clinical laboratory test results closing towards baseline". He added: "This does not mean she is not still infectious." Pate said the woman's infection appeared closely linked to Kenya's first case but cautioned that this did not necessarily establish the route of transmission.
Kenya reported its first-ever Ebola case at the end of September and has since recorded two deaths, with seven other patients being treated in isolation.
Since May, three people infected with Ebola have been medically evacuated to Europe for treatment: two to Germany and one to the Netherlands. In July, another person was evacuated to the United Kingdom following potential exposure while treating patients in Congo.
The outbreak has outrun the response, hampered by instability in the DRC and difficulty reaching affected communities. The DRC has reported growing violence against health workers, with a nurse killed and another health worker seriously injured while responding to an Ebola alert, according to the WHO.