Quarantine costs: Uganda charges citizens returning from Congo

More than 4,800 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo since May, a toll that has made it the country's deadliest Ebola outbreak to date. In response to the continuing threat, the Ugandan government announced on Sunday that its citizens returning from the DRC must undergo a 21-day quarantine. The health ministry specified that these returnees will bear the full financial cost of their isolation.

The new protocol also prohibits travelers who have recently been in the DRC from transiting through Uganda. To enforce these rules, the ministry has intensified screening procedures at Entebbe International Airport and at all land border crossings. Additional checks are now being conducted at designated road checkpoints to monitor movement between the two nations.

Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi spoke to the BBC's Newsday program regarding the measures. He stated that only essential travelers from the DRC would be admitted to Uganda and that they would face intense public health measures. Baryomunsi said the primary goal is to ensure that Uganda remains free of Ebola. He noted that the country shares a long border with the DRC, where transmission continues, and that the populations are closely linked through trade, travel, and family ties.

The decision follows scrutiny of two recent cases detected in neighboring countries. A Kenyan businessman and a Nigerian woman both passed through Entebbe airport on the same day before testing positive. The Nigerian patient is the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat who had visited Kampala for a holiday. The Kenyan patient was a businessman with business interests in the DRC who died two days after arriving in Nairobi.

Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary of the health ministry, said CCTV footage showed no physical interaction between the two individuals while they were in Uganda. Kenya has since confirmed eight other cases, and a second woman, a relative of the deceased businessman, died over the weekend. The ministry reported that 60 people monitored for contact with the Kenyan patient in Uganda have all been discharged.

Ugandan officials had previously stated that the woman in Nigeria only transited through Uganda after visiting eastern DR Congo. However, the ministry announced on Sunday that it is working with Nigeria to establish her full travel history and possible routes of exposure. Uganda has stressed that it recorded 20 cases and two deaths early in the outbreak, but the World Health Organization declared the country free of the disease in August.