A tourist from the United States asked: “should we reconsider travel to Uganda because of Ebola?” Simple answer? The World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak finished after 42 days without any new infections.
The Muzungu writes: I often receive questions from visitors to Uganda. Here’s a copy of an email exchange I had in November 2022 with David in the United States. The Ebola outbreak is completely behind us now but I leave this post here simply for historical purposes.
Subject: Travel enquiry
I wanted to travel to Uganda this December, but the State Department says that because of ebola, we should reconsider travel to Uganda. Additionally, that if we do travel, we should expect flights to be cancelled. Finally, on arrival, we have to be taken to [New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Atlanta (ATL), Chicago (ORD) or Washington (IAD)] designated airports for more screening before being released.
How is the situation? Have you heard of any flight cancellations from Uganda to the U.S because of ebola?
Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving.
The Muzungu replies:
Good morning David. Thanks for your message.
There is no reason why you should alter your travel plans. It’s most likely that you will go directly from Entebbe Airport to the National Parks and there are no reported cases in any of those areas.
Government information I saw yesterday says that we have had no new cases in 10 days. We have detailed contact tracing in place, based on decades of experience managing disease outbreak. World Health Organization, CDC (Center for Disease Control) and others are part of that process.
Most people are continuing to travel as normal. A few people have cancelled trips and a few people have postponed.
Government advisories are always extremely cautious. We are pretty disturbed by how over the top the US / CDC are on this one. They are based on absolute worst case scenarios. We who live in Uganda feel the situation is under control.
If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I answer questions all the time from potential travelers.
Dear Charlotte
Thank you so much for your detailed and informative response. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I was really scared after reading from the State Department and the CDC [statement stated October 6 2022, link above]. Last thing you want is to be labelled as an ebola carrier.
If you say it is safe to go from the airport to the national parks, then I will talk to my friends so we can go from there. I hope you don’t mind if I share this email with my group with whom I am meant to travel. I want them to see it for themselves. They were all freaked out!
Thx again for the help Charlotte.
The Muzungu writes:
We’re all yearning to travel again post-pandemic so the last thing anyone wants to think about is Ebola…! Thankfully, the outbreak should soon pass.
It may be too early to celebrate any successes, but overall, I have been briefed that the picture is good. As I indicated to you earlier, Ebola is a contact disease, unlike coronavirus which is airborne, hence much easier to control, despite its devastating nature.
President Yoweri Museveni, November 26 2022
I regularly update several blogs, the most important being Latest news from Entebbe Airport. Safe travels! And don’t hesitate to message me if you need a little reassurance from a Ugandan resident like me.
There has barely been any cases in the country, at least not enough to tarnish the touristy brand in the short term. Wildly exaggerated threat, great blog.