Uganda declares over Ebola outbreak that killed 55

In the early weeks of the outbreak, cases spread beyond the epicentre of Mubende, 150km (90 miles) west of the capital Kampala, to several other districts, including Kampala.

The director-general of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, praised Uganda for its response to the virus.

“Uganda has shown that Ebola can be defeated when the whole system works together, from having an alert system in place, to finding and caring for people affected and their contacts, to gaining the full participation of affected communities in the response,” he said in a statement.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said a two-week delay in declaring the outbreak after the first probable death from Ebola meant “the opportunity for immediate quarantine of contacts was lost”.

But health officials were able to turn the tide on the disease by November after imposing a lockdown on affected districts.