The Ugandan government is set to declare an end to the Ebola Virus outbreak that occurred last year and has claimed at least 56 lives.
The Health Ministry said that if no new case is reported by tomorrow, it would formally announce the end of the outbreak on Wednesday.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) requires 42 consecutive days of no case of a disease for a country to be declared safe from an epidemic.
“In accordance with WHO recommendations, the acute phase of an Ebola outbreak is considered over when no confirmed or probable cases are detected and the last confirmed case is discharged from the treatment unit for a period of 42 days,” WHO representative in Uganda, Dr. Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam told a local media station.
Since the Ugandan authorities declared the latest outbreak in Mubende on September 20, the East African nation has registered 142 confirmed cases and 56 deaths, with the disease spreading to the capital Kampala.
Health officials however insist that vigilance is still needed even though no new cases are being reported and measures still in place to prevent the spread.
Ebola is an often fatal viral haemorrhagic fever and is transmitted through body fluids, with the main symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhea.
