Uganda’s Ebola outbreak ends after 42 days without a new case

Uganda has officially ended its Ebola outbreak after completing 42 days without a new case, the World Health Organization said. The milestone represents two full incubation periods for the virus and meets the standard used to determine that an outbreak is over.

The country’s last confirmed imported patient was discharged on July 16, 2026, and investigators found no subsequent transmission linked to that case. Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, Uganda recorded 20 confirmed infections and two deaths. Most cases involved people who had travelled from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Uganda’s government said in late July that the country was free of the disease, but the WHO continued monitoring for several more weeks to check for transmission chains that might have gone undetected. The agency credited the government, health workers and partners with containing the outbreak and preventing wider spread.

The declaration is a national success, not the end of the wider emergency. Transmission remained active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where more than 5,600 cases and 2,700 deaths had been reported. Uganda’s result nevertheless shows that sustained surveillance and coordinated public-health measures can interrupt cross-border spread.