ARUA DISTRICT EBOLA TASK FORCE TAKES TOUGH MEASURE ON ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSING

Arua RDC Gore Gophine in grey suit and Arua DHO in black suit chairing Ebola taskforce meeting.

By Onzoma Albert

Arua City

Arua district leaders are urging the public to strictly follow Ebola Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to prevent an outbreak, given the ongoing threat of the Bundibugyo strain in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This call was made during the sixth Arua District Ebola Taskforce meeting.

The urgency is driven by frequent cross-border movements, porous informal borders, and active cross-border markets on the DRC side.

Gore Gophine, Arua Resident District Commissioner and taskforce chairperson, highlighted the challenge of continuous illegal entries by Congolese nationals and cautioned residents against aiding these entries.

“We are still having some people using porous routes bringing in Congolese into our area and most of them are being intercepted at the check point in Bondo, so I want to make it clear that our borders are still closed and let there be no Congolese trying to enter Uganda through illegal border routes thinking that they will be able  to reach Kampala, they will not reach Kampala, they will be intercepted so I want to ask that they should desist from that,” he said.

Geoffrey Orijabo, Acting Arua District Health Officer and Taskforce secretary, emphasized the importance of community vigilance in identifying Ebola symptoms and the need for a multi-sectoral approach to combat the outbreak regionally.

“Arua bordering the epi-center, we are at highest risk because like the case number 002 which was identified in Kampala passed through our border what does that mean, it means we as Arua district we should be very vigilant, we should sit together with the security, police with the technical team and political leadership and address this issue as quick as possible. It is not health issue alone, it needs a multi-sectoral collaboration,” he said.

To protect the community, residents are advised to, Wash hands frequently with soap and water or use an alcohol-based sanitizer, Avoid shaking hands, hugging, and sharing personal items, Minimize non-essential public gatherings, Immediately contact health authorities if someone falls sick, rather than isolating them at home and Refrain from touching, washing, or kissing bodies of suspected Ebola victims, as burials must be carried out by trained personnel.

Ebola remains active in Africa, with the Bundibugyo virus strain outbreak concentrated in northeastern DRC provinces Ituri, Nord-Kivu, and Sud-Kivu since May 2026. The virus has spread to Uganda, including cases in Kampala linked to the DRC outbreak.