Uganda stays on US do-not-travel list as Africa widens Ebola screening

Uganda is still on the United States' "Do Not Travel" list even though it has contained its Ebola outbreak, The EastAfrican reported, as South Africa widened screening at its ports and hospitals and the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo passed 10,700 confirmed cases.

The Congolese outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, has been running since May and has recorded more than 5,300 deaths, the Cape Times reported. That makes it the deadliest Ebola epidemic in the DRC's history and the second largest recorded worldwide. The World Health Organization declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in May, warning of its potential to spread across borders.

Cases were also reported in Kenya and Nigeria in October, and in Uganda, where the Cape Times said the outbreak has ended.

South Africa's National Department of Health has designated 36 hospitals, 24 public and 12 private, to receive suspected or confirmed cases, and thousands of health workers have been trained. Arrivals from the DRC and Uganda must complete a health questionnaire, which can be submitted up to 24 hours before travel and asks for countries visited in the previous month and any symptoms. Symptomatic travellers can be referred for assessment and monitored for up to 21 days.

The Border Management Authority, which sits under the home affairs department, said port health officials take temperatures with thermal scanners, review travel histories and visually assess passengers, with priority given to direct flights from affected countries. Testing is centralised at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

"South Africans have nothing to worry about," health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said. He said officials also question travellers arriving from countries such as Zambia when their travel history shows earlier visits to affected areas.

The NICD said the Ervebo vaccine, which protects against the Zaire strain, has not been established as effective against Bundibugyo, though its efficacy against this strain is being evaluated in a trial. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said vaccines alone would not end the outbreak and that surveillance, laboratory testing, case management, infection prevention and control, safe burials and community engagement were all needed.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has close to 3,000 health workers in the DRC, said children under five with confirmed infections were disproportionately more likely to die than adults. It called for children to be included in research into treatments and preventive medicines.

Health ministers from the Southern African Development Community began a five-day meeting on Monday at which the DRC outbreak is among the priorities, with stronger disease surveillance, early warning systems, information sharing and coordinated cross-border responses on the agenda.