KAMPALA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Uganda said for the last 12 days, it has not recorded any Ebola case, an indicator that the country is making progress in the fight against the deadly disease, a top official said here Friday.
Minister of Health Ruth Aceng, while attending a presidential address on health matters, said the East African country was making good progress. "We believe we are winning the fight, for the last 12 days there has been no case."
Aceng said if no case is reported by Dec. 17, then the country will be on the journey to be declared Ebola-free. The World Health Organization says for a country to be declared Ebola-free, it should spend 42 days (two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus) without any new cases reported.
Uganda first reported the current Ebola outbreak on Sept. 20 when a positive case was registered in the Central Region's Mubende District. The disease has since spread to neighboring districts as well as the Kampala Capital City and Jinja City.
Ministry of Health figures issued as of Nov. 30 show that the country had registered 142 confirmed cases, 56 deaths, and 86 recoveries. There is no positive case on admission. ■