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WAS - East Africa Tourism Intelligence Brief (7 - 13 Jul 2026)

Weekly
Regional
13 July 2026

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Uganda's Ebola outbreak has now reached 22 consecutive days without a new confirmed case as of 13 July, with the last recorded case on 21 June. The Uganda Ministry of Health dashboard confirms 17 recoveries from 20 total cases, with one patient still under care. If the case-free streak holds to 42 days, the earliest possible Ebola-free declaration falls on 2 August 2026.

On Marburg, the 21-day contact tracing window for Uganda's isolated Kyegegwa case closes on 21 July. No contacts of the child have developed symptoms and no new cases have been reported. Africa CDC and Reuters have both confirmed there is currently no active Marburg case in Uganda. Neither event has affected any wildlife tourism zone.

The DRC Ebola outbreak continues to accelerate sharply. ECDC confirmed 1,792 cases and 625 deaths as of 9 July - a rise of over 330 cases from the previous reporting cycle. WHO data as of 11 July indicates the total may have climbed towards 1,947 confirmed cases. Ituri Province remains the epicentre, more than 500km from Uganda's wildlife tourism zones.

Rwanda records zero Ebola and zero Marburg cases throughout the reporting period. All national parks remain fully operational and all key flight routes from the Gulf continue normally. SalamAir's Muscat-Kigali direct service launches in eight days on 21 July, opening the first affordable direct Gulf-Rwanda routing. ECDC (9 July 2026)

Stay up to date with our weekly reports, including our archived reports - East Africa Tourism Intelligence.

EBOLA WATCH - Ebola Watch Dashboard

!Map produced by CDC on 9 Jul 2026 Figure 1: Map produced by CDC on 9 Jul 2026

CASE STATISTICS (as at 13 July 2026)

UGANDA

Confirmed cases: 20 Confirmed deaths: 2 Recoveries: 17

Days case-free: 22 (last confirmed case 21 June 2026) Earliest possible Ebola-free declaration: 2 August 2026

Uganda's case count remains fixed at 20 for the 22nd consecutive day - the longest case-free stretch of this outbreak. Of the 20 confirmed cases, 15 were imported from DRC and 5 were local transmission events, all in Kampala or the neighbouring district of Wakiso. No Ebola transmission has occurred in any national park or wildlife tourism zone. The recovery count has risen from 15 to 17 this week. If the current streak holds, Uganda achieves Ebola-free status on 2 August 2026. Uganda Ministry of Health (12 July 2026)

DRC

Confirmed cases: 1,926 Confirmed deaths: 702

The DRC outbreak continues at pace. WHO data as of 11 July indicates the confirmed total may have climbed towards 1,926 cases - the steepest sustained weekly acceleration of the outbreak to date. Ituri Province remains the epicentre with the overwhelming majority of cases. The outbreak remains geographically concentrated more than 500km from Uganda's gorilla trekking zones. WHO (12 July 2026)

RWANDA

Confirmed Ebola cases: 0 Confirmed Marburg cases: 0

Zero confirmed Ebola cases throughout the entire reporting period. All national parks, Kigali International Airport and tourism infrastructure remain fully operational. Rwanda's 30-day entry restriction for travellers with DRC travel history remains in force. Rwanda is not subject to any UAE, UK or EU travel restriction related to Ebola. ECDC (9 July 2026)

KEY DEVELOPMENTS - EBOLA

  • 7-13 July - Uganda Ebola case count holds at 20, now 22 days case-free. The Uganda Ministry of Health daily dashboard confirms no new confirmed cases since 21 June. The 22-day streak is Uganda's longest case-free run of the outbreak and the 42-day countdown to a potential Ebola-free declaration continues uninterrupted. If maintained, 2 August becomes Uganda's earliest possible clearance date. One patient remains under care with 17 confirmed recoveries. Uganda Ministry of Health (12 July 2026)

  • 9 July - DRC confirmed cases reach 1,926 with 702 deaths. WHO data from 12 July indicates the total has climbed further towards 1,926 confirmed cases, representing the steepest sustained case acceleration of the outbreak to date. Ituri Province continues to account for the majority of cases. The geographic distance of more than 500km from Uganda's tourism zones remains the critical buffer. WHO (12 July 2026)

EBOLA-RELATED TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY (as at 13 July 2026)

  • UAE. Formal entry ban in force since 13:00, 6 June 2026. Entry restricted for all travellers from Uganda, DRC and South Sudan, including those transiting via third countries. All new visa issuance suspended for nationals of the three countries. Entry permitted only for travellers who have spent more than 21 days outside the listed countries. Rwanda is NOT on the restricted list. Gulf Business (June 2026)

  • United States. Uganda Level 4 Do Not Travel. Entry banned for non-citizens and non-permanent residents from Uganda, DRC and South Sudan. Rwanda's advisory remains Level 3 - Reconsider Travel, reflecting long-standing DRC border unrest and general crime risk factors. Volcanoes National Park is explicitly excluded from the restricted DRC border zone and remains fully accessible. US Department of State (June 2026)

  • Canada. 90-day entry ban for DRC, Uganda and South Sudan residents. 21-day mandatory quarantine for returnees. Measures confirmed to end 29 August 2026. 36,000 PR applications suspended until 28 August 2026. Government of Canada (June 2026)

  • Rwanda. 30-day entry restriction for travellers with DRC travel history in the past 30 days. Zero confirmed Ebola or Marburg cases. All tourism infrastructure fully operational. ECDC (9 July 2026)

  • Bahrain and Jordan. 30-day entry bans for travellers from Uganda, DRC and South Sudan remain in force.

  • EU and UK. No formal entry bans on Uganda or Rwanda. Enhanced screening at selected EU airports for Uganda returnees. ECDC continues to assess risk to EU/EEA residents as very low. ECDC (9 July 2026)

  • WHO position. WHO continues to oppose blanket travel restrictions, describing them as counterproductive and inconsistent with actual epidemiological risk. Uganda's transparent reporting and rapid detection - now extended to its Marburg response - continue to be cited as evidence that open surveillance should be rewarded, not penalised. WHO (July 2026)

KEY DEVELOPMENTS - GENERAL

  • Marburg contact tracing window closes 21 July - currently zero additional cases. Africa CDC and WHO confirm no contacts of the isolated Kyegegwa Marburg case (confirmed 30 June) have developed symptoms. Reuters reported there is currently no active Marburg case in Uganda. The 21-day incubation period runs until 21 July - this is the final monitoring week. No wildlife tourism zone has been affected at any point throughout this event. Africa CDC / Reuters (July 2026)

  • KLM Amsterdam-Entebbe suspension - no new restart date published. KLM's suspension of Amsterdam-Entebbe services, previously extended to 9 August 2026, remains in force. No updated restart date has been published during the reporting period. Clients booked on KLM should continue to be rerouted via Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airways or Turkish Airlines. KLM Travel Alerts (July 2026)

  • SalamAir Muscat-Kigali launch confirmed for 21 July - 8 days away. SalamAir's twice-weekly direct Muscat-Kigali service remains on track to launch 21 July 2026, with the airline having appointed a Rwanda sales agent ahead of the inaugural service. Fares from OMR 69.99. This creates the first affordable direct routing between the Gulf and Rwanda and opens a live commercial channel for WAS's Oman outreach campaign. SalamAir / ATTA (July 2026)

GENERAL TOURISM UPDATES

  • Uganda Tourism Board concludes AESATA conference engagement in Livingstone. The Uganda Tourism Board participated in the Africa East and Southern Africa Travel Agents (AESATA) annual conference held 27 June - 1 July 2026 in Livingstone, Zambia. The engagement focused on trade relationship building and positioning Uganda as a recovery destination ahead of the anticipated Ebola-free declaration in August. Uganda Tourism Board (July 2026)

  • Uganda targets North American trade with high-level Canadian familiarization visit. Uganda is set to host a high-level delegation from Canada as part of a major familiarization visit aimed at boosting tourism arrivals from North America. The initiative is timed ahead of a potential Ebola-free declaration and forms part of Uganda's forward recovery communications strategy with key source markets. Uganda Tourism Board (July 2026)

  • President Museveni opens Uganda Cultural and Tourism Festival in Munich. President Museveni officially opened the inaugural Uganda Cultural and Tourism Festival in Munich, Germany on 26 June 2026 - Uganda's first dedicated cultural tourism event in Europe. The festival

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