The World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health have confirmed a case of Ebola virus in Uganda. The confirmed case is a 5 year old boy who travelled from the Democratic republic Of Congo (DRC) with his family on 9th June 2019.

There have been multiple alerts of the Ebola virus in Uganda none of which had been confirmed yet. The child is the first confirmation since the virus hit DRC.

The child and his family entered the country through Bwera Border post and sought medical care at at Kagando hospital where health workers identified Ebola as a possible cause of illness. The child was later transferred to Bwera Hospital Ebola Treatment Unit.

Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has said that the Ministry of health and World Health Organisation have sent a team to Kasese District to trace likely cases and vaccinate those who may have come into contact with the patient.

Uganda has been on high alert since the outbreak in the eastern DRC, where more than 2,000 cases of the highly contagious virus have been recorded, two-thirds of which have been fatal.