Uganda slams ‘unfair’ Ebola air travel restrictions

Uganda has seen only two deaths out of 19 confirmed Ebola cases since the outbreak was announced in the Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-May. (EPA Images pic)

KAMPALA: Uganda has criticised air travel restrictions imposed by countries including the US over an Ebola outbreak which has spilt over from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo as “unfair”.

The east African country’s response to the latest outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever has been broadly praised by public health officials, with only two deaths out of 19 confirmed cases since the alarm was sounded in the DRC in mid-May.

Almost all of them were Congolese nationals who had crossed the border from their home country, where more than 676 cases have been confirmed and 136 people have died since May 15.

“Today, the Ugandan health ministry, together with the Civil Aviation Authority, Ambassadors, and airline operators serving Uganda, discussed the unfair travel restrictions imposed on Uganda due to the current Ebola situation,” Diana Atwine, permanent secretary for the health ministry, said on X on Friday.

“While we appreciate the need for vigilance, blanket restrictions undermine confidence in countries that report outbreaks openly, and are not commensurate with the actual risk.”

Besides the US, Canada and the UAE are among the countries to have imposed entry bans on travellers from Uganda, the DRC and neighbouring South Sudan as a result of the outbreak.

While the World Health Organization’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Kampala’s strategy on a visit to Uganda on Monday, the United Nations health agency warned on Friday that the outbreak was spreading to new areas in the neighbouring DRC.

No vaccine nor specific treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola responsible for the latest outbreak, the 17th to hit the vast central African country.

Spread by close contact and infected bodily fluids, the disease has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.