The United States has maintained its highest travel advisory for Uganda despite the country having successfully contained its Ebola outbreak and being declared Ebola free by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In a statement announcing an additional $242 million in funding for Ebola response and preparedness efforts in Central and East Africa, the US Department of State said its travel advisory for Uganda remains at Level 4, advising American citizens not to travel to the country.
“Our Travel Advisory for the DRC, as well as those for Uganda and South Sudan, remains at Level 4, Do Not Travel. Americans should not travel for any reason to these countries,” the department said.
The US said protecting American citizens remains the Trump Administration’s highest priority.
“The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens,” it said.
The advisory remains in force even though Uganda has been internationally recognised for containing the spread of Ebola after cases linked to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The WHO later declared Uganda Ebola free after the country completed the required monitoring period without recording any new infections following the successful containment of the outbreak.
Despite maintaining its travel warning, the US government praised Uganda’s handling of the public health emergency.
“While the trajectory of the outbreak in the DRC remains concerning, the United States commends Uganda for swift and decisive action to respond to the outbreak and limit the spread of Ebola,” the statement said.
The US also announced that, in consultation with the US Congress, it intends to provide an additional $242 million for immediate Ebola response, preparedness programmes and humanitarian assistance related to the outbreak.
The department added that this funding is separate from another $350 million in humanitarian assistance already committed for the DRC, South Sudan and Uganda as part of a wider $1.8 billion humanitarian package.
Uganda strengthened surveillance, border screening, contact tracing and treatment capacity after Ebola cases linked to the DRC outbreak threatened to spread across the border early this year.
Although Uganda has since been cleared of Ebola and continues to maintain disease surveillance systems, the latest statement indicates that the United States has not yet changed its travel advice and continues to advise its citizens not to travel to the country.
