Ugandan authorities have officially declared the end of a recent Ebola outbreak after 42 consecutive days with no new cases. A formal declaration was made during a televised ceremony held in the central Mubende district, the epicenter of the outbreak, on Wednesday. According to the World Health Organisation, an Ebola outbreak is over if there are no new cases after 42 days, which is twice the incubation period. The outbreak, the eighth in Uganda’s history, killed 55 people, said Aceng Ocero. There were a total 143 confirmed cases and 22 probable cases, she added. To combat the outbreak, officials launched aggressive contact-tracing to track down relatives and friends who handled the bodies of victims or attended funerals. Some escaped from quarantine facilities, others traveled as far as the capital Kampala, and a few visited traditional healers and witchdoctors for treatment instead. Cases were eventually confirmed in nine districts, including Kampala, according to the health ministry.
SOURCE: CNN