Uganda says citizens returning from DRC must pay for 21-day quarantine

Uganda's Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi announced on 25 October that Ugandan citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must quarantine for 21 days, and that returnees with a DRC travel history pay for the quarantine themselves, Al Jazeera reported.

The measure reinforces controls Uganda brought in during May, when it ordered anyone returning from the DRC to self-isolate for 21 days under the supervision of district surveillance teams and health officials, Kenya's The Standard reported on 27 May.

The Associated Press reported that the Health Ministry also barred travellers with a history of travel to the DRC from transiting Uganda, including on chartered flights. Non-essential Congolese travellers will be sent back through the nearest border crossing at their own expense, and those who enter illegally face prosecution.

The ministry has intensified traveller screening at Entebbe International Airport and all land border crossings, Reuters reported. Everyone entering by air, land or water must complete a passenger locator form, and the health screening applies to diplomats and UN personnel as well.

Uganda declared its Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak over on 28 July after 20 infections and two deaths, and says it has no active infections. Its border controls, set up in May, let through only essential travellers such as humanitarian workers and truck drivers, subject to screening.

Kenya's first Ebola patient was infected in the DRC, travelled overland to Kampala and flew from Entebbe to Nairobi on 3 October. The patient died in a Nairobi hospital on the evening of 5 October, according to a notice from the Chinese Embassy in Kenya that cites Kenya's Ministry of Health. Kenya has since reported a second Ebola death.

Baryomunsi said 60 people traced after possible contact with the Kenyan patient completed 21 days of monitoring and were discharged.

Nigeria confirmed an infection on 20 October in a 42-year-old woman, the wife of a Swiss diplomat, who returned from Uganda to Abuja on 3 October. Investigators are examining how she was infected; Baryomunsi said the findings would be released later. Ugandan officials said a review of airport security footage showed no physical interaction between her and the Kenyan patient, who passed through Entebbe the same day. Nigerian authorities found closely related viruses in the two cases but no direct link.

In the DRC, the World Health Organization had recorded 9,704 cases and 4,687 deaths by 20 October, across eight provinces. The Bundibugyo strain has no approved vaccine or specific treatment. The WHO urged stronger cross-border monitoring and cooperation, and advised against travel or trade restrictions on affected countries.

The Chinese Embassy in Kenya issued its own notice on 19 October. It advised Chinese citizens to avoid travel to outbreak areas in the DRC. Anyone who has recently stayed in an outbreak area, or who was on the same flight as a suspected case, should follow Kenyan health-ministry guidance and complete 21 days of self-monitoring of their health. Anyone with fever or other symptoms should report their travel and exposure history to a medical facility promptly.

The embassy's consular protection and assistance line is +254-20-2711222. The Chinese Foreign Ministry's 24-hour global emergency line is +86-10-12308 or +86-10-65612308.