Uganda quarantines DRC returnees for 21 days as Nigeria's Ebola case stays under probe

Uganda has ordered a mandatory 21-day quarantine for its citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where an Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people since May.

Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi announced the measure on Sunday in Kampala. Returning Ugandans will pay for the quarantine themselves, the ministry said, and travellers who have been in the DRC will not be allowed to transit through Uganda.

The ministry said it has stepped up screening at Entebbe International Airport and at all land border crossings, with extra checks at designated road checkpoints. Baryomunsi told the BBC that only essential travellers from the DRC would be allowed in, and they would face "intense public health measures".

Uganda's announcement comes as health authorities there and in Nigeria try to work out where Nigeria's first Ebola patient caught the virus.

What we know about Nigeria's case

Nigeria confirmed its first imported case on Tuesday, 20 October. The patient is a woman who arrived in Abuja on a flight from Uganda. The Bundibugyo strain of the virus was found in her sample. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for this strain.

Health Minister Muhammad Pate said genomic sequencing by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Redeemer's University found the virus is closely similar to the strain in Kenya's first imported case, differing by only one mutation. He said no direct epidemiological link between the two patients has been established, and Nigeria still has only one confirmed case.

The Federal Government said the patient is showing signs of recovery. Contact tracing and testing of people who may have been exposed are continuing.

Uganda has insisted the woman did not contract the virus on its soil. A government spokesperson, Alan Kasujja, called it "absurd" to suggest her holiday in Uganda — which he said has no Ebola cases — could be the source. Uganda's ministry has said she also travelled to the DRC, but Swiss authorities have disputed that account, according to Nairametrics. The conflicting versions have left the source of her infection unresolved.

Uganda is also working with Nigerian and international partners, reviewing genomic results, travel records and her movements.

Contacts cleared in Uganda

Baryomunsi said all 60 people monitored after contact with Kenya's Ebola patient have finished their 21-day watch without symptoms and have been discharged. They were traced through border crossings, hotels and transport operators.

Kenya's first patient, a businessman, died two days after arriving in Nairobi. The BBC reports the country has since confirmed eight other cases, and a second woman related to the businessman died over the weekend. Uganda's health ministry permanent secretary, Diana Atwine, said CCTV footage showed no physical interaction between the Kenyan and Nigerian patients at Entebbe, where both passed through on the same day.

The World Health Organisation declared Uganda Ebola-free in August after 20 cases and two deaths, almost all among people who had visited the DRC.

For Nigerians, the practical focus is the airports. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has strengthened passenger screening, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has appealed for international help for Nigeria, including funding, equipment, diagnostic tools and stronger surveillance.

What happens next: Nigeria's NCDC will keep tracing and testing contacts of the Abuja patient. Uganda's quarantine rule applies to citizens returning from the DRC. The source of Nigeria's case remains under investigation.