Uganda discharges last Ebola patient, starts countdown to be virus-free

A Ugandan worker collects a rubber glove from the airing line during a visit by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (Who) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Mulago National Referral Hospital Isolation Unit, as aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo Virus, in Mulago suburb, of Kampala, Uganda, on June 8, 2026. (Photo: Reuters)

KAMPALA — Uganda discharged its ​last remaining Ebola patient on ‌Thursday, triggering a 42-day countdown after which it can be declared free of the virus, the East African nation's health ministry said.

Uganda has ​confirmed a ⁠total of 20 cases of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola since mid-May. Fifteen of those were people ‌infected in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the outbreak, who then travelled to Uganda.