Kampala, July 28 (QNA) – The Ebola virus has been eliminated in the country, while borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will remain closed, Uganda’s Minister of Health, Chris Baryomunsi, said on Tuesday.

Baryomunsi added that Kampala authorities had completed the 42-day monitoring period after the last patient infected with the disease was discharged from care on Jun. 14.

He affirmed that the country had brought the outbreak under control by dint of years-long robust government investments in building resilient public health systems, despite the persistent threat posed by the virus in the region.

Ebola infected around 20 people and claimed two lives in eastern Uganda since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, while health authorities in neighboring DRC reported that the death toll from the virus had risen to 1,309.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced the launch of clinical trials for two treatments and granted Emergency Use Listing for the first molecular diagnostic test designed to detect Bundibugyo virus.

The organization also launched the first trial to evaluate the safety of the ChAdOx1 vaccine, led by the University of Oxford. (QNA)