Fresh team of Ugandan doctors join DR Congo's battle against Ebola

A delegation of 48 Ugandan doctors has arrived in Ituri Province, the epicenter of the country's Ebola outbreak, to bolster the regional response to the deadly virus.

The team, led by Chris Baryomunsi, crossed into the DR Congo through the lake port of Kasenyi on Lake Albert.

According to Dr. Diana Atwine, Uganda's Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, the deployment is part of a broader support package that includes a team of health workers, two mobile laboratories and additional logistical support to help the DR Congo contain the outbreak.

She said the joint Uganda-DR Congo initiative is designed to strengthen the cross-border Ebola response by reducing the movement of infected patients seeking treatment in Uganda, limiting cross-border transmission and helping bring the outbreak under control more quickly.

Dr. Atwine said Uganda has made significant progress in preventing the spread of Ebola by treating all imported confirmed cases and those they infected, tracing and quarantining contacts, and providing supportive care. She added that the country has also implemented response measures directed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

She said that the systems Uganda has put in place have helped keep the population safe, adding that without those interventions, the situation could have been far worse.

The Ugandan medical team will be deployed to Bunia and surrounding mining communities, where they will reinforce patient care, laboratory testing and contact tracing along the busy border shared by the two countries.

This intervention comes as authorities battle the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which was declared by the World Health Organization on May 15. Unlike previous outbreaks, this strain has no approved vaccine or standard treatment, making efforts to contain the virus more challenging.