Post by Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI)

A U.S. delegation didn't just visit Uganda this week. They walked the front lines of a regional Ebola response and saw why it's working. Today, a senior delegation from the U.S. Department of State and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention travelled to Arua to see the United States' contribution to Uganda's Ebola response and regional health security up close. The U.S. is the largest single donor to the regional Ebola response, with over $370 million committed to Uganda, DRC, and neighbouring countries. This visit builds upon the $2.3 billion U.S.-Uganda Health Memorandum of Understanding. The delegation visited the Arua Regional Emergency Operations Centre, the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI)'s Arua laboratory, and the Vurra point of entry on the Uganda-DRC border. Chargé d'Affaires Mika Cleverley explained why: "We are here to see how Uganda and DRC are coordinating disease surveillance, traveller screening, and cross-border information sharing to detect and rapidly respond to potential cases." The results are visible. Gore Goffin, Resident District Commissioner for Arua, confirmed that West Nile has recorded zero positive cases since May, when the country documented an imported case from DRC. He attributes this to vigilance and strong multisectoral coordination, along with the UVRI lab in Arua city, which has since reduced Ebola test turnaround time to within five hours. Arua Mayor Lawrence Alionzi put it simply: "A threat anywhere is a threat everywhere. No nation can consider itself protected until its neighbours are equally prepared." Dr Charles Ayume, State Minister for Primary Health Care, noted that with the outbreak's epicentre still in eastern DRC, Uganda is "uniquely positioned to support the regional response through cross-border surveillance, laboratory collaboration, emergency operations, and technical expertise." Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) is proud to work alongside the Ministry of Health - Uganda and partners in this shared mission to detect outbreaks early and stop them at the source. #OneIDI #EbolaResponse #GlobalHealthSecurity #PublicHealth