People suspected of being infected with Ebola speak to a health worker at a treatment centre in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Credit: Baz Ratner/Reuters

A child in Uganda has been diagnosed with Ebola — marking the first confirmed case in the country since an outbreak of the virus emerged in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ten months ago.

The five-year-old boy, who travelled from the DRC to Uganda with his family on 9 June, sought care at a hospital in Kagando, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a series of Twitter posts on 11 June. The Ugandan ministry of health confirmed that the child had tested positive for Ebola.

The boy is being treated at a hospital in Bwera, Uganda, and his family is being monitored for signs of Ebola infection, according to the WHO. The WHO and Uganda’s health ministry have dispatched rapid-response teams to the area to try to limit Ebola’s spread in the country.

The Ebola outbreak in the DRC is now the second deadliest on record. There have been just over 2,000 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola there as of 2 June, according to the WHO. Nearly 1,350 people have died.