Africa CDC Urges U.S. to Lift Uganda Ebola Travel Restrictions

Uganda

Africa's top public health agency is urging the United States to lift travel restrictions on Uganda, arguing the country has brought its Ebola outbreak under control.

Speaking at the African Union health summit in Ghana, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said Uganda has gone three weeks without a new Ebola case and discharged its last patient earlier this month. He warned that countries should not be penalized for being transparent about disease outbreaks.

The US recently tightened travel restrictions on Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan as the outbreak spread across the region.

While opposing travel bans, Kaseya warned the epidemic in the DRC is worsening rapidly, with more than 2,300 confirmed cases and over 900 deaths since May.

Africa CDC says nearly 1.4 billion dollars is needed to contain the outbreak, warning that without urgent international funding and stronger disease surveillance, the crisis could become the worst Ebola outbreak on record.