KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda is reinforcing border controls to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus and now requires citizens returning from neighboring Congo to spend 21 days in quarantine at their own expense, the Health Ministry said Sunday, as investigators examine how a woman who traveled from Uganda to Nigeria contracted the disease.
The outbreak in Congo has killed thousands, but Uganda has recorded no confirmed cases since declaring its
outbreak over on July 28. It first established border controls in May, restricting all but essential travelers, including humanitarian workers and truck drivers, subject to screening.
Travelers with a history of travel to Congo cannot transit through Uganda, including on chartered flights.
Under the new measures announced Sunday, nonessential Congolese travelers will be returned through the nearest border crossing at their own expense, while those entering illegally face prosecution, the Ugandan ministry said.
Screening has intensified at Entebbe International Airport and land borders. All arrivals must complete a passenger locator form and undergo health screening, including diplomats and United Nations personnel.
Asked about reports that Nigeria’s first Ebola patient had not visited Congo, Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi said Ugandan investigators had not established whether she traveled there. He said she had relatives in Uganda and Congo and held two passports, one of them Ugandan. He did not identify the second issuing country.
Switzerland’s foreign ministry told The Associated Press on Friday that the woman, married to a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria, had not visited Congo and was believed to have contracted Ebola while traveling to Uganda.
Baryomunsi said Nigerian authorities had not provided all the information Uganda needed. Investigators are working with Nigeria and international partners to review genomic findings and verify her movements and interactions in Uganda and en route to Abuja. Findings will be released later, Baryomunsi said.
Nigeria’s Health Minister Muhammad Pate said Friday that the woman's infection appeared closely related to Kenya’s first case, while cautioning that this did not necessarily establish the transmission route.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously said both patients passed through Entebbe airport on Oct. 3. Where the Nigerian patient contracted Ebola remains unresolved.
Uganda also said all 60 contacts of Kenya’s first patient, including border personnel, hotel staff and transport operators, completed 21 days of monitoring without symptoms and were released from follow-up.
The patient, a 40-year-old Kenyan man living in Congo, traveled through Uganda and arrived in Kenya Oct. 3. He tested positive and died Oct. 5. Eight contacts subsequently tested positive; a 65-year-old close relative died Friday, bringing Kenya’s death toll to two.
Uganda said it had deployed Ebola experts to Congo to help contain the Bundibugyo Ebola strain.
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