Health ministers from the East African Community (EAC) have agreed on urgent regional actions to strengthen coordination and contain the ongoing Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak, including harmonised surveillance at border points and the establishment of a regional technical task force.
The ministers agreed on the measures during the 8th Extraordinary Meeting of the EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers of Health, held on June 1-2, 2026, to harmonise Ebola screening and prevention measures across all partner states.
They directed countries to implement consistent surveillance systems at airports, ports, and land border crossings in line with national laws and World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, with particular focus on high-risk and porous border areas to strengthen the regional response to the evolving outbreak.
To support implementation, the EAC Secretariat, working with the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA) and other partners, was instructed to convene a technical meeting to align screening procedures, traveller health declarations, and other public health measures at points of entry.
Exit screening will also be introduced at designated sites, alongside strengthened water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions, risk communication, and community-based surveillance.
The ministers further approved the creation of an EAC Regional Technical Taskforce on Ebola and other high-consequence diseases. The taskforce will comprise experts nominated by partner states and the EAC Secretariat. It will be responsible for monitoring the outbreak, analysing epidemiological trends, coordinating response actions, and reporting regularly to Ministers and policy organs. Each partner state will nominate two health experts and one EAC affairs expert.
Real-time sharing of epidemiological data was emphasised as a key priority to improve early detection and ensure coordinated regional action.
To strengthen surveillance and diagnostic capacity, ministers directed partner states to deploy EAC mobile laboratories to border points and outbreak hotspots and to accelerate the rollout of container laboratories.
The mobile laboratories, supported under the EAC Regional Network of Reference Laboratories Project funded by the Government of Germany through KfW and the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, are already operational in several partner states, including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The meeting noted that 10 mobile laboratories are currently deployed across the region, alongside ongoing procurement of Ebola testing kits. Ministers stressed the need for sustained investment in laboratory systems capable of rapidly detecting emerging infectious diseases.
Strengthening workforce capacity was also prioritised, with directives to train frontline health workers in Ebola preparedness, infection prevention and control, and risk communication. The Secretariat was further tasked with expanding refresher training for members of the EAC Pool of Rapidly Deployable Experts.
Ministers welcomed progress under the EAC Pandemic Preparedness Project (PanPrep), supported by Germany and the European Union, which has established a regional pool of more than 180 multidisciplinary experts operating under a One Health approach. They also called for closer collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to support the rapid deployment of experts during emergencies.
Efforts to strengthen infection prevention were reinforced through the continued provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including plans to distribute 500 additional sets to the DRC and Uganda. Ministers also called for increased resource mobilisation to support PPE procurement and broader preparedness activities.
On medical countermeasures, the meeting welcomed progress toward a regional framework for faster approval of Ebola vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics in collaboration with the African Medicines Agency (AMA), WHO, and national regulatory authorities.
Resource mobilisation efforts were also highlighted, with Germany’s KfW committing EUR 1 million to support laboratory deployment, diagnostics, and training. Additional funding support is being coordinated through GIZ and other development partners to strengthen regional preparedness.
The ministers further directed the development of a comprehensive regional Ebola contingency, response, and recovery plan. They also acknowledged that insecurity in some affected areas continues to hinder response operations, particularly contact tracing, safe burials, and risk communication, and called for a multisectoral meeting to address these challenges, including implications for trade and cross-border movement under the EAC Common Market Protocol.
As of June 1, 2026, the DRC had reported 121 confirmed Ebola cases and 1,077 suspected cases linked to the Bundibugyo strain, including 17 confirmed deaths and 246 suspected deaths. Uganda had recorded 11 confirmed cases and one death, while 642 contacts had been identified, with 638 under active follow-up.
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