KAMPALA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have commended Uganda's leadership and health workers for successfully containing the country's latest Ebola outbreak.
In a statement issued late Thursday following a joint high-level mission to Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Aug. 4-5, the two health organizations praised Uganda's swift response and effective containment measures.
During the visit to Kampala, the delegation met with government officials and Ebola response teams after Uganda declared the outbreak over on July 28, ahead of the WHO's standard 42-day countdown following the discharge of the last patient. Uganda discharged its last Ebola patient on July 16 after the individual tested negative for the virus.
"The Africa CDC and WHO commend Uganda's leadership and the efforts of health workers, communities and partners," the statement said.
"The country's experience demonstrates the importance of early detection, rapid contact tracing, coordinated national action, trusted community engagement and strong cross-border surveillance," it added.
The two organizations stressed that preparedness must be sustained to prevent the virus from spreading from the DRC to neighboring countries.
"Continued transmission in the DRC means neighboring countries remain at risk and must sustain surveillance, laboratory readiness and cross-border coordination," the statement said.
Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC, said community engagement would be key to containing and ultimately ending the outbreak.
"When people have information they trust, can report symptoms early and seek care without fear, we can break every chain of transmission," Kaseya said.
"Our responsibility is to bring the response closer to communities and give frontline teams the support they need," he said. ■
