The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Jean Kaseya, formally requested that U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lift the travel restrictions imposed on Uganda. The request comes after nearly a month without any new Ebola cases in the country.

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DR Congo Ebola Outbreak Passes 2,000 Confirmed Cases

During the Extraordinary Summit on Health of the African Union (AU) in Accra, Ghana, Kaseya urged the nations of the continent to endorse the letter as a show of regional support.

“There is no reason for the United States to continue with this travel restriction,” the Director-General stated. He also emphasized that “it is time to lift this status and continue supporting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the challenge it faces.”

The last Ebola patient in Uganda was discharged on July 16, beginning the 42-day period required by the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the territory free of the virus.

Today, #Uganda has discharged the last #Ebola patient, a Congolese national who has successfully recovered and ready to be with his family.

We now begin the 42-day countdown required before Uganda can officially declare the outbreak over, in line with international guidelines.… pic.twitter.com/rJ9nSZAYH4

— Ministry of Health- Uganda (@MinofHealthUG) July 16, 2026

In contrast, the outbreak in the DRC, declared on May 15, has resulted in 967 deaths and 2,423 confirmed cases. Uganda has recorded 20 infections, 15 of which were imported from the DRC, with two deaths.

The United States maintains entry restrictions for travelers from the DRC and certain areas of Uganda and South Sudan, measures implemented in May and tightened last week. The WHO classifies the risk of spread as high in sub-Saharan Africa and low globally.

This event represents the third worst Ebola epidemic in history and the seventeenth in the DRC. It ranks behind the West African crisis of 2014-2016, which left 11,000 dead, and the eastern Congolese crisis of 2018-2020, with 2,299 deaths.

The virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids and causes severe hemorrhagic fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and internal bleeding.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) surpassed 900 deaths and 2,300 cases.#Africa #Congo #Ebola #Health #teleSUREnglish pic.twitter.com/p3DEsNiBFR

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) July 20, 2026

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