KAMPALA, UGANDA / MENA Newswire / — Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases, raising the total number of infections in the current outbreak to five, as health authorities expanded contact tracing and monitoring after cases linked to cross-border travel and medical exposure. The Uganda Ministry of Health said the latest confirmed infections include two people identified among known contacts and a third patient who had entered the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo before later testing positive after returning there.
The new cases include a driver who transported Uganda’s first confirmed patient and a health worker who was exposed while caring for that patient. Both were receiving treatment after being identified through contact tracing. The third case involved a woman from Congo who entered Uganda with mild abdominal symptoms, traveled from Arua near the border to Entebbe, and later sought care at a private hospital in Kampala before returning to Congo.
Uganda’s outbreak is part of a wider Ebola emergency involving Bundibugyo virus disease, a less common species of Ebola. The World Health Organization has classified the outbreak in Congo and Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern, while noting it does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency. Bundibugyo virus disease is confirmed through laboratory testing and can spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people or contaminated materials.
Cross-border cases under monitoring
Ugandan officials said all identified contacts linked to confirmed infections are under close follow-up, with the public urged to report suspected symptoms. Response measures include surveillance at border points, rapid response teams, isolation capacity, laboratory confirmation, infection prevention controls, and risk communication. Health workers have been advised to remain vigilant and follow standard infection prevention measures, particularly in facilities receiving patients with fever, vomiting, weakness, abdominal pain, bleeding, or other symptoms consistent with Ebola disease.
The outbreak was first confirmed in Uganda on May 15 after an imported case from Congo was identified in Kampala. The patient, an elderly Congolese man, had been admitted to a private hospital with severe symptoms and died before laboratory confirmation of Bundibugyo virus disease. A second imported case was confirmed on May 16 in Kampala in a patient returning from Congo, with no apparent link to the first case at the time of reporting.
Congo outbreak drives regional response
In Congo, the outbreak has expanded rapidly since authorities confirmed Bundibugyo virus disease in Ituri province. By May 24, more than 900 suspected Ebola cases had been identified in Congo, including 101 confirmed cases, according to updated figures from international health officials. Earlier reporting had concentrated transmission in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu, with the most affected health zones including Mongbwalu, Rwampara and Bunia, areas tied to the initial laboratory confirmation and field investigations.
There is no licensed vaccine or virus-specific treatment approved for Bundibugyo virus disease, making supportive care, early detection, isolation, contact tracing, safe burials and infection control central to containment. Uganda has previously managed Ebola outbreaks and has activated emergency operations, border screening and district-level preparedness in response to the current cases. Authorities in both countries are coordinating surveillance and laboratory work as health teams track contacts, investigate alerts and manage confirmed patients.