Kampala: The director-general of the World Health Organization said on Monday that Uganda should reconsider its decision to close its border with Democratic Republic of Congo because of an Ebola outbreak.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the comments during a visit to an Ebola isolation unit at a hospital in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
In other remarks, Tedros praised the East African country for its Ebola response, calling it prompt and capable.
But asked by a Reuters reporter about Uganda’s decision late last month to temporarily shut its border with Congo to try to limit the spread of Ebola, he said blanket travel restrictions don’t work, “so I hope they (Uganda’s authorities) reconsider”.
The WHO has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola a public health emergency of international concern.
The epicentre is in Congo’s Ituri province, where Africa’s top public health agency says there have been 515 confirmed cases out of Congo’s total of 544.
Uganda has reported 19 confirmed Ebola cases, mostly people who entered the country from Congo.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema;Additional reporting by Vincent Mumo Nzilani;Editing by Alexander Winning)
