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

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.

Unlike in Congo, where cases are still surging, Uganda has not reported a new case since June 22.

Congo reported 62 new cases on Thursday, taking its total number of confirmed infections to 2,073, though the World Health Organization has said the true tally could be at least double that.

"Today, Uganda has discharged the last Ebola patient, a Congolese national who has successfully recovered and (is) ready to be with his family," Uganda's health ministry said in a post on X.

On Wednesday, government spokesperson Alan Kasujja said the patient would be released from an isolation unit at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in the capital Kampala.

"Uganda starts counting down," he wrote on X. "If 42 days pass without a single new case, WHO guidelines stipulate that we will be declared Ebola free."