The United States has applauded Ugandan Government, international partners on the efforts of reaching the milestone to announce the end of Ebola outbreak in the country
State Department Spokesman, Ned Price who made this known at the Press Briefing on Thursday, said US welcomes the announcement on January 11th by the Government of Uganda, World Health Organization (WHO) of the end of the Ebola epidemic in Uganda.
According to him, “We commend the Ugandan Government for reaching this milestone. We celebrate with the survivors just as we express our condolences for those lives lost.
“We support the Government of Uganda’s response and response and minimize outbreak spread. The U.S. Government mobilized a comprehensive interagency response to the Ebola outbreak through the U.S. Embassy in Kampala.
“The State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense.
“And the Agency for International Development worked in coordination with the Government of Uganda and other key partners, such as the World Health Organization, to actively provide support in several areas vital to the response”.
He stated that every single outbreak reminds the United States that a health threat anywhere is a potential health threat to everyone in the world.
“The containment of this Ebola outbreak is just the most recent example of coordination and teamwork to keep all of us safe by preventing infectious disease threats from crossing borders.
The Spokesman noted that United States work with countries around the world to help not only prevent outbreaks and to detect them early but also to respond rapidly and effectively when they do occur.
“While we celebrate the end of this outbreak, we redouble commitment to work with partners in Uganda and around the world to mitigate the risk of future disease outbreaks anywhere”, he said.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 Uganda declared the end of the Ebola disease outbreak caused by Sudan ebolavirus, less than four months after the first case was confirmed in the country’s central Mubende district on 20 September 2022.
It was the country’s first Sudan ebolavirus outbreak in a decade and its fifth overall for this kind of Ebola. In total there were 164 cases (142 confirmed and 22 probable), 55 confirmed deaths and 87 recovered patients.
More than 4000 people who came in contact with confirmed cases were followed up and their health monitored for 21 days. Overall, the case-fatality ratio was 47%. The last patient was released from care on 30 November when the 42-day countdown to the end of the outbreak began.