The head of Africa’s top public health agency said he had written to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asking him to lift Ebola-related travel restrictions on Uganda since the country has reported no new infections in about a month.
“There is no reason for the U.S. to continue with this travel restriction,” Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya told a conference in Accra, Ghana’s capital, on Tuesday.
Kaseya urged African countries to support his letter to Kennedy as a sign the continent is supporting nations affected by the Ebola outbreak, the epicentre of which is in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Uganda’s last Ebola patient was discharged on July 16, triggering a 42-day countdown after which it can be declared free of the virus, according to World Health Organization guidelines.
Uganda has reported 20 Ebola cases so far, compared to over 2,400 in Congo.
“It’s time today to lift the status (travel restrictions), and then we’ll continue to support DRC on the challenge they are facing,” Kaseya continued.
The U.S. is restricting entry for all travellers who were recently in Congo and some travellers who recently visited Uganda or South Sudan. It imposed entry restrictions in May before tightening them last week.
