The Ministry of Health has today, confirmed Ebola Bundibugyo Virus Disease outbreak.
According to the Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr Diana Atwine, there has been one case of a 59-year-old Congolese male who was admitted at Kibuli Muslim Hospital on 11th May, 2026.
“He presented with Respiratory distress, Episodes of fevers, epigastric pain, nausea, fever and had challenges of passing urine” she said.
She added, “While in admission, he deteriorated and died on 14th May, 2026 in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with bleeding symptoms”.
Dr Atwine revealed that the body was reportedly taken at 8pm back on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the same day.
“On the 15th May, 2026 the Ministry of Health received reports of suspected Ebola Disease (EVD) from Public Health Authorities in DRC.
Dr Atwine noted that following the notice, the Ministry took a decision to test an earlier obtained sample from the deceased during his care.
“The sample was taken for testing at the Central Emergency Surveillance and Response Support laboratory in Wandegeya where it was confirmed as Ebola Bundibugyo” she said.
Atwine noted the case is an imported case from DRC and Uganda has not yet confirmed a local case.
She revealed that the ministry has activated the response and taken steps which include deploying screening, surveillance, and rapid response readiness teams at official and informal points of entry, especially along the western border, major transit routes, and pilgrimage corridors.
“Activated response at National Level and in high-risk districts, including deployment of mobile laboratory in Bwera Hospital, isolation arrangements, infection prevention and control, and risk communication” she said.
She noted that the ministry is currently quarantining all the contacts who came into contact with the index case.
“We isolated one high risk contact who is a close relative to the deceased” she said.
On Friday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said it was closely monitoring the confirmed Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is working with national authorities and partners to support a rapid, coordinated response.
Following consultations with the DRC’s Ministry of Health and National Public Health Institute, preliminary laboratory results from the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) have detected Ebola virusin 13 of 20 samples tested.
ABOUT EBOLA
Ebola is a viral, acute disease that can turn fatal if left untreated.
Ebola is transmitted through; close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope or porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with: •
Blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from Ebola Objects that have been contaminated with body fluids (like blood, feces, vomit) from a person sick with Ebola or the body of a person who died from Ebola.
Symptoms of Ebola:
A suspected case of Ebola may present with any of the following symptoms: sudden onset fever fatigue chest pain diarrhea vomiting unexplained bleeding yellowing of eyes Bleeding manifestation is usually a late presentation after the above symptoms.
