Kampala, Uganda - February 17, 2025 Uganda on Tuesday discharged eight patients who have been receiving treatment for Sudan Virus disease-(belongs to same family as Ebola virus disease), after two negative tests carried out 72 hours apart. The patients were being treated at Mulago National referral hospital in Kampala and Mbale hospital in eastern Uganda. A total of 216 contacts are currently being monitored in quarantine centres at various facilities. Uganda’s minister of health, Dr. Ruth Aceng said during the discharging ceremony held at Mulago national referral hospital, Kampala, Uganda on Tuesday that “The patients we are discharging today are safe and free of the disease. I urge their families and communities to receive and interact with them normally,”. The survivors received discharged certificates and home use products. World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative Dr. Kasonde Mwinga said that “The discharging of the patients today not only marks an important milestone in our collective efforts to control the outbreak, but it also brings huge relief to their families and communities,” The discharged patients continue to receive help, with psychosocial teams from WHO, Ministry of Health and partners working with them, families and communities in the reintegration process. They will also undergo regular reviews in survivor’s clinics. The health ministry declared an Ebola outbreak on Jan. 30 after a 32-year-old male nurse working at the hospital succumbed to the SVD. As of Monday, 234 contacts of the deceased have been identified, according to the ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) Sudan virus disease is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates that is due to Orthoebolavirus sudanense (Sudan virus), a viral species belonging to the same genus of the virus causing Ebola virus disease