The Ministry of Health of Uganda has announced this Monday the appearance of two other possible cases of Ebola related to the outbreak declared this month in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), bringing the total number of suspicious infections in the country to seven.
"The two new confirmed cases are Ugandan health workers working in a private health center in Kampala. Both patients have been admitted to the designated treatment unit and are receiving medical attention," said the Director General of the Health Service, Charles Olaro, in a statement reported by the newspaper "Monitor".
Health authorities have indicated that all potential contacts of these patients have been "registered for follow-up" and have asked citizens to report "immediately" to their nearest medical center if they present symptoms compatible with the disease.
These infections are in addition to the three cases confirmed over the weekend by the Ministry of Health, including a driver and a health worker who attended to the first positive case detected in the country from the DRC, as well as that of a Congolese woman.
Previously, the Ugandan Ministry of Health had reported another imported case from the DRC which, after several tests, turned out to be negative. In parallel, the authorities reported the death of another person classified as suspected of having Ebola.
Given the situation, the Government of Uganda has launched a comprehensive package of measures to contain the outbreak, including the temporary suspension of all flights between the DRC and Uganda, the reinforcement of patrols at border crossings, and the temporary suspension of massive cultural celebrations, among other restrictions.
The average mortality rate associated with the Ebola virus is around 50%, with a sudden onset of symptoms that usually include fever, fatigue, general malaise, muscle aches, and headache and sore throat, which can be followed by vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, skin rashes, and signs of progressive failure of kidney and liver function.
DRC —which in December 2025 declared its last Ebola outbreak in the Kasai region concluded— is considered the country with the most global experience in managing this disease, after having faced more than a dozen outbreaks since the virus was identified in 1976 in a double epidemic episode whose epicenter was located in the Congolese town of Yambuku, on the banks of the Ebola River, which gave its name to the illness.