Uganda Charges Returnees for 21-Day Ebola Isolation

Uganda's health ministry announced Sunday that citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo must pay for a 21-day quarantine, adding a direct cost to travel as the region confronts an Ebola outbreak.

The ministry said it is also barring travelers who have been in DR Congo from transiting through Uganda. Screening has been increased at Entebbe International Airport and at all land border crossings, with additional checks at designated road checkpoints.

Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi told the BBC's Newsday programme that only essential travelers from DR Congo would be admitted, and that they would face "intense public health measures". He said the steps were meant "to ensure that we keep Uganda free of Ebola".

The DR Congo outbreak has killed more than 4,800 people since May, the country's deadliest on record. Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths early in the outbreak, and the World Health Organization declared the country free of the disease in August.

The tighter controls follow questions about two people who tested positive in Kenya and Nigeria after passing through Entebbe airport on the same day. Uganda has stressed this month that it has recorded no cases within its borders. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, identified the Nigeria patient as the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat who traveled to Kampala for a holiday. Diana Atwine, the health ministry's permanent secretary, said CCTV footage showed no physical interaction between the two.

Kenya has confirmed eight other cases. The Kenyan businessman and a second woman, a relative of that businessman, have died. The health ministry said the 60 people monitored after contact with the Kenyan patient in Uganda have been discharged. On Sunday, the ministry said Uganda and Nigeria are working together to establish the movements and possible routes of exposure of the woman who tested positive in Nigeria.

Baryomunsi said Uganda shares a border with DR Congo, where transmission continues, and that communities remain linked through trade, travel and family ties. The Bundibugyo species behind this outbreak is relatively rare, and there is still no vaccine or specific treatment, although trials are under way.