Uganda Hosts Africa CDC Team to Fight Ebola Outbreak

KAMPALA, Uganda – Ugandan President Yoweri K. Museveni has welcomed a proposal to establish a continental Incident Management Support Team (IMST) in Kampala, following a high-level meeting with the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) amid a worsening Ebola outbreak in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The DRC declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15, 2026, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there is currently no vaccine or approved treatments. According to reports, the outbreak has led to 51 confirmed cases, over 800 suspected infections, and 186 deaths, mostly concentrated in the DRC’s Ituri Province. Uganda has so far reported two imported cases originating from travelers arriving from the DRC, with no evidence of local transmission.

On Tuesday afternoon, President Museveni met with an Africa CDC delegation at State House Entebbe, led by Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya. The delegation briefed the president on the regional Ebola situation and proposed setting up an IMST in Kampala to strengthen cross-border coordination, surveillance, laboratory networks, and community response efforts.

“They proposed establishing a continental Incident Management Support Team for Ebola in Kampala to strengthen regional coordination and monitoring efforts, which Uganda welcomes and will support,” President Museveni posted on his official X account following the meeting.

Museveni described Ebola as “very manageable” with proper attention and preparedness. Dr. Kaseya, in turn, praised Uganda’s rapid response to the imported cases.

Regional health ministers from the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan have already aligned on a unified response plan. The proposed Kampala-based team is expected to serve as a hub for real-time information sharing and operational support across the three countries.