Ugandan citizens returning from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo must undergo a 21-day quarantine at their own cost, according to a report by BBC News.
The directive was announced on Sunday by the Ministry of Health as the country tightens restrictions to contain the spread of the Ebola virus.
Under the measures, travellers who have visited DR Congo will not be permitted to transit through Uganda.
The government has also intensified traveller screening at Entebbe International Airport and all land border crossings, supported by screening at designated road checkpoints.
Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi told the BBC’s Newsday programme that only essential travellers from DR Congo would be allowed entry, subject to intense public health measures to keep Uganda free of Ebola.
Baryomunsi stressed that the shared border and connected communities through trade, travel, and family ties require continued vigilance.
The decision follows scrutiny after two passengers who transited through Entebbe airport on the same day tested positive for Ebola in Kenya and Nigeria.
In Kenya, a businessman who visited DR Congo died two days after arriving in Nairobi, leading to eight confirmed cases and the death of a female relative.
Ugandan authorities confirmed that 60 individuals monitored after contacting the Kenyan patient have all been discharged.
Meanwhile, authorities in Uganda and Nigeria are establishing the full travel history and routes of exposure of the second patient, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat, who had holidayed in the Ugandan capital, according to Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention head Jean Kaseya.
Diana Atwine, permanent secretary of the health ministry, said CCTV footage showed no physical interaction between the two travellers.
Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths earlier in the outbreak before the World Health Organization declared it Ebola-free in August.
Over 4,800 people have died in DR Congo since May in its deadliest outbreak.
The rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola behind the outbreak spreads through bodily fluids, with no approved vaccine or specific treatment available, though trials are under way.
