KAMPALA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Health workers in Uganda are optimistic that the country may be seeing the tail end of the current Ebola outbreak after the discharge of all patients with the disease.

Jane Ruth Aceng, Ugandan minister of health, and Kasonde Mwinga, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Uganda, presided over a discharge ceremony Tuesday in Kampala, the East African country's capital.

Aceng said eight patients, seven in Kampala and one in the eastern district of Mbale, were discharged, after undergoing 21 days of treatment.

Nine cases were confirmed in Uganda, including one death, since the latest outbreak was declared on Jan. 30.

"The patients we are discharging today are safe and free of the disease," the health minister said. "I urge their families and communities to receive and interact with them normally."

Aceng said that 265 people who had contact with the confirmed Ebola cases are still under strict quarantine in Kampala and the eastern districts of Jinja and Mbale.

The WHO described the discharge as an important milestone in the collective efforts to curb the spread of the disease and end the outbreak.

"We must continue to work with the national authorities to ensure that our response remains active. The next 42 days are critical in ensuring no new case arises," said Mwinga, the WHO representative. "If no new infection occurred during this period, this outbreak would be declared over."

The WHO urged the public against stigmatizing Ebola survivors, stressing that they are "safe, no longer contagious and pose no health risk to others."

When the latest outbreak was declared, Uganda, with support from the WHO and other international partners, reactivated its emergency response plan and vaccinated high-risk groups, including health workers and Ebola patient contacts, using a trial vaccine. It was the first-ever Ebola vaccine trial for the Sudan strain.

The health ministry implemented control measures such as early detection, clinical care, infection prevention, and community engagement.

A total of 77 people were killed in Uganda's last Ebola outbreak, which began in September 2022 and ended in January 2023, with 164 cases. Enditem

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