Country begins 42-day countdown to outbreak being declared officially over, as numbers continue to rise in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo Uganda has started lobbying…

Country begins 42-day countdown to outbreak being declared officially over, as numbers continue to rise in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo Uganda has started lobbying countries to lift Ebola-related travel restrictions after discharging its last confirmed Ebola patient from hospital. The discharge of a Congolese national from the Mulago national referral hospital’s isolation centre in Kampala on Thursday triggered the start of a 42-day countdown required by the World Health Organization before Uganda can officially be declared Ebola-free, provided no new infections are detected. Fifteen countries continue to maintain either partial or full travel restrictions on Uganda after the outbreak, measures the government said have crippled tourism, trade and business, despite the country’s relatively successful response. The US has placed Uganda on a level four advisory against all travel due to the Ebola outbreak. The same category includes countries such as North Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan and Russia. “As we make progress in managing this disease, we are engaging and asking those countries with a view to opening up so that the economy does not get injured,” Uganda’s health minister, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, said after the ceremony marking the release of the last patient. Baryomunsi said the country was not yet Ebola-free – under WHO guidelines, countries must complete two consecutive 21-day incubation periods without recording a new case before an outbreak can officially be declared over. “This is an imported outbreak. We remain on high alert because what we are celebrating here is different from what is happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” he said.