Uganda orders 21-day Ebola quarantine for citizens returning from DR Congo

Kampala says country is Ebola free, but Swiss authorities believe a woman diagnosed in Nigeria was infected in Uganda.

Uganda's Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi arrives for a media briefing on the Ebola outbreak in Kampala, Uganda on October 25, 2026 [Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters]

Uganda has ordered citizens returning after travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to quarantine for 21 days, as it steps up precautions against the Ebola virus .

Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi announced the measure on Sunday at a news conference in Kampala, as Ebola cases in Kenya and Nigeria raised fresh questions about travellers passing through Uganda.

list 1 of 2 Kenya announces second Ebola death, says ‘no evidence’ of community spread

list 2 of 2 WHO warns ‘more complex’ Ebola outbreak now present in 3 African countries

The country says it has no active infections after ending its own outbreak in July. Returning Ugandans with a history of travel to DRC will have to pay for their quarantine, the Ministry of Health said.

Officials have also strengthened checks at Entebbe International Airport and land crossings, and require all incoming travellers to complete forms recording how they can be contacted.

Uganda declared its Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak over on July 28. It had recorded 20 infections and two deaths, according to the Health Ministry.

Yet Swiss authorities have said a Ugandan-born woman married to a Swiss diplomat contracted Ebola during a visit to Uganda in September.

Nigeria confirmed her infection on October 20, after she had travelled to Abuja, its capital.

At Sunday’s briefing in Kampala, Baryomunsi challenged that conclusion. He said relatives who had previously visited DRC had met the woman in a Kampala suburb, and questioned whether that possible route of exposure had been ruled out.

“We should speak science, not politics,” he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations’ health agency, said on Thursday that the information it had received did not show that the woman herself had travelled to DRC.

Nigerian and Ugandan officials are investigating her movements and possible source of infection.

The inquiry has also turned to a Kenyan man who travelled from DRC through Uganda before flying to Nairobi on October 3. He died two days later, and Kenya has since reported a second Ebola death.

Both patients passed through Entebbe airport on the same day.

Ugandan officials said on Sunday that security footage showed no physical interaction between them.

Nigerian authorities said genetic testing found closely related viruses in the two cases, but no direct link had been established.

Baryomunsi said 60 people traced in Uganda after possible contact with the Kenyan patient had finished 21 days of monitoring and been discharged.

In neighbouring DRC, where the outbreak began in May, the WHO had recorded 9,704 cases and 4,687 deaths by October 20.

Ebola, which can cause haemorrhagic fever, has reached eight Congolese provinces, making this the country’s largest recorded outbreak of the virus. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people.

The strain responsible for the current outbreak, known as Bundibugyo, has no approved vaccine or specific treatment.

Symptoms can take up to 21 days to appear, according to the WHO. In its October 23 update, the WHO urged stronger monitoring and cooperation across borders, while advising against restrictions on travel or trade with affected countries.

坎帕拉方面称该国已无埃博拉病例，但瑞士当局认为一名在尼日利亚确诊的女子是在乌干达感染的。

2026年10月25日，乌干达卫生部长克里斯·巴里奥蒙西抵达乌干达首都坎帕拉，出席有关埃博拉疫情的新闻发布会。[Abubaker Lubowa/路透社]

乌干达已下令从刚果民主共和国（DRC）返回的公民隔离 21 天，以加强对埃博拉病毒的防范措施。

卫生部长克里斯·巴里奥蒙西周日在坎帕拉举行的新闻发布会上宣布了这项措施，此前肯尼亚和尼日利亚的埃博拉病例引发了人们对途经乌干达的旅客的新疑问。

肯尼亚宣布第二例埃博拉死亡病例，称“没有证据”表明存在社区传播（列表 1/2）。

世界卫生组织警告称，埃博拉疫情目前已蔓延至三个非洲国家，情况“更加复杂”（列表 2/2）。

该国表示，在7月份结束疫情后，目前已无活跃感染病例。卫生部表示，曾前往刚果民主共和国的乌干达公民返回乌干达后，需自行承担隔离费用。

官员们还加强了恩德培国际机场和陆路口岸的检查，并要求所有入境旅客填写表格，记录他们的联系方式。

乌干达于7月28日宣布邦迪布焦埃博拉疫情结束。据卫生部称，该疫情共记录了20例感染病例和2例死亡病例。

然而，瑞士当局表示，一名嫁给瑞士外交官的乌干达裔女子在9月份访问乌干达期间感染了埃博拉病毒。

尼日利亚于 10 月 20 日确认了她的感染情况，此前她曾前往尼日利亚首都阿布贾。

在周日于坎帕拉举行的新闻发布会上，巴里奥蒙西对这一结论提出质疑。他表示，此前曾到访刚果民主共和国的亲属在坎帕拉郊区见过这名女子，并质疑是否已排除这种可能的感染途径。

他说：“我们应该谈论科学，而不是政治。”

联合国卫生机构世界卫生组织（世卫组织）周四表示，其收到的信息并未显示该女子本人曾前往刚果民主共和国。

尼日利亚和乌干达官员正在调查她的行踪和可能的感染源。

调查还涉及一名肯尼亚男子，他从刚果民主共和国经乌干达前往内罗毕，于 10 月 3 日抵达。两天后他去世，此后肯尼亚报告了第二例埃博拉死亡病例。

两名患者均于同一天经停恩德培机场。

乌干达官员周日表示，监控录像显示他们之间没有肢体接触。

尼日利亚当局表示，基因检测发现这两例病例中存在密切相关的病毒，但尚未确定直接联系。

巴里奥蒙西表示，在乌干达追踪到的 60 名可能与肯尼亚患者有过接触的人已经完成了 21 天的监测并出院了。

在邻国刚果民主共和国，疫情于 5 月开始爆发，截至 10 月 20 日，世界卫生组织已记录到 9704 例病例和 4687 例死亡。

埃博拉病毒可引起出血热，目前已蔓延至刚果（金）八个省份，这是该国记录在案的最大规模的埃博拉疫情。埃博拉病毒通过与感染者体液的直接接触传播。

导致当前疫情爆发的毒株被称为 Bundibugyo，目前尚无获批的疫苗或特效疗法。

世界卫生组织表示，症状可能需要长达21天才会出现。在10月23日的最新报告中，世卫组织敦促加强跨境监测与合作，同时建议不要对受影响国家实施旅行或贸易限制。