Uganda closes its border with Congo over Ebola outbreak

World Uganda closes its border with Congo over Ebola outbreak May 27, 2026 / 7:23 PM EDT / CBS/AP Add CBS News on Google Uganda on Wednesday ordered the closure of its border with Congo, where suspected cases of a rare type of Ebola are surging, and as cases have been confirmed at home after Ugandan health workers were exposed to the disease from Congolese patients.The measure, which goes against the guidance by the World Health Organization, underscores growing fears of contagion in East Africa from Bundibugyo, a rare type of the Ebola virus that is behind this outbreak and that has no approved medicines or vaccines.According to numbers compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the WHO, there were 121 confirmed Ebola cases in Congo and 17 confirmed deaths, with at least 1,077 additional suspected cases of the virus and 246 suspected deaths from the disease. In Uganda, there were seven confirmed cases, including one death from the virus, the CDC and WHO said.Like Congo, Uganda has faced Ebola outbreaks in the past. A local Ugandan task force made the decision on the border closure. The Ugandan health workers were exposed to the virus by Congolese patients who had crossed the border before the outbreak was declared in eastern Congo on May 15. Sophia Mulei, a laboratory technologist, wearing protective equipment as she prepares to enter the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Laboratory at Uganda Virus Research Institute on May 26, 2026, in Entebbe, Uganda.  Hajarah Nalwadda / Getty Images Border crossings will be authorized only in emergency cases, including for the outbreak response, cargo or security reasons, Dr. Diana Atwine of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, told journalists. Anyone entering from Congo under emergency circumstances will be taken into mandatory isolation for 21 days.Tracing and isolating Ebola contacts is seen as key to stopping the spread of the disease, which usually manifests as hemorrhagic fever. The virus is spread thr...