US extends restrictions on entry for travelers from Uganda by another 30 days — Nation Kenya

The United States has extended by 30 days restrictions on entry for travelers from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan due to the development of a regional Ebola outbreak. This was stated in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notice dated October 11, Nation Kenya reports.

Risk due to the situation in the DRC

The U.S. agency noted that Uganda had successfully contained its own outbreak, but considers the risk of renewed cross-border spread of the virus from the DRC to remain. The CDC drew attention to overland movement of people from the neighboring country, including medical workers and patients seeking assistance in western areas of Uganda.

As an example of the risk, the CDC cited a case reported by Kenya’s Ministry of Health on October 6. The country’s first case and death from disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus were recorded in a person who arrived from the DRC in Uganda, flew from Kampala to Nairobi on October 2, and died on October 5 after hospitalization.

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Contact tracing and Uganda’s position

According to the CDC, the Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the DRC continued to spread as of October 5 despite response measures. The agency reported that the contact-tracing rate stood at 80%, down from 87% in September, while a rate of 95% is needed to effectively contain the outbreak.

On July 28, Uganda announced the end of its domestic outbreak after recording 20 confirmed cases and two deaths, as well as one probable case and one probable death. Uganda’s Director General of Health Services Charles Olaro said on October 6 that the country was free of Ebola and that authorities had strengthened cross-border surveillance following the case in Kenya.

Objections from Africa CDC and WHO

The extension of the restrictions came despite objections from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said in August that he had appealed to Washington to lift travel bans on African states. WHO Regional Director for Africa Mohamed Yakub Janabi said that travel restrictions and border closures have no scientific evidence of effectiveness in controlling outbreaks.