Eight patients treated for Ebola in Uganda have recovered, the country’s health minister said on Wednesday, declaring the country’s latest outbreak of the deadly disease “contained”.

The eight “have been under treatment and have fully recovered,” Jane Ruth Aceng told AFP.

“This is a major breakthrough,” the minister added.

She said the patients had been discharged on Tuesday and Wednesday from a hospital in Kampala.

Uganda had confirmed nine cases overall in the latest outbreak, including a nurse who died from the disease in the capital Kampala in January.

Aceng said 265 other people remained “under quarantine for monitoring” after coming into contact with the patient who died.

“At the moment, Ebola spread is contained as part of the Ugandan government’s robust mechanism to contain the spread of diseases” alongside international agencies, she added.

It is the sixth time the east African nation has been hit by the Ebola Sudan species of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine.

A vaccination trial for the strain was launched in the country earlier this month.

Uganda’s previous Ebola outbreak lasted for four months in 2022 and 2023 and claimed 55 lives.

The deadliest Ebola epidemic unfolded in west Africa between 2013 and 2016, killing more than 11,300 people, according to WHO estimates.

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