WHO expected to declare Uganda Ebola outbreak over

The World Health Organization is expected to declare the Uganda recent Ebola outbreak over on January 11 if no new cases are reported. According to WHO guidelines, an outbreak is declared over if there are no new infections within 42 days.

Uganda has recorded 142 cases including 56 deaths since the Ebola outbreak was announced in September. The Sudan strain of the virus that has caused outbreaks in neighboring Congo in recent years, has no proven vaccine but trials are to get under way in coming days for a potential vaccine.

The 2022 Uganda outbreak, the first in a decade of the less common Sudan strain, is a chance for clinical trials of the three vaccines donated by the U.S.-based Sabin Vaccine Institute, University of Oxford and Merck.

Ebola, which can sometimes manifest as a hemorrhagic fever, spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials. The World Health Organization has said the fatality rate of the current outbreak is about 40%.