Dar es Salaam Airport · Roland · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office now says Tanzania no longer applies heightened Ebola health screening to travelers arriving from Uganda, after the World Health Organization declared Uganda’s Bundibugyo outbreak over on 27 August 2026. The same FCDO Tanzania entry-requirements page still lists those extra checks for arrivals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
If your itinerary into Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, or a land border starts in Uganda, the extra Ebola screening layer is the piece that dropped. If it starts in the DRC, plan for the May measures to still be in force. Safari and beach trips that continue to Zanzibar still need the rest of Tanzania’s arrival stack, including the island day plan on Deep Arrival’s Things to Do in Zanzibar guide.
- Change: Heightened Ebola screening is no longer in place for Tanzania arrivals from Uganda, FCDO says.
- Still on: The same extra screening remains for travelers arriving from the DRC.
- Why: WHO and Africa CDC declared Uganda’s outbreak over on 27 August 2026 after 42 days with no new confirmed case.
- Everyone: Mpox temperature checks still apply at all Tanzania points of entry.
- Also required: Mandatory inbound travel insurance from 1 October 2026, plus visa and yellow-fever rules that already applied.
Uganda Arrivals No Longer Face the May Ebola Checks
Tanzania’s Ministry of Health issued Travel Advisory No. 17 on 18 May 2026 after Bundibugyo Ebola appeared in the DRC and Uganda. The World Health Organization determined a public health emergency of international concern on 17 May 2026, and Tanzania added extra screening at airports, seaports, and land borders for arrivals from those two countries.
That Uganda-specific layer is what FCDO has now taken off the board. Its entry page says heightened screening is no longer in place for travelers arriving into Tanzania from Uganda. ATTA flagged the same wording in a 1 October 2026 note, citing a 29 September 2026 FCDO update.
The public-health basis is the 42-day countdown. WHO Africa and Africa CDC said on 27 August 2026 that Uganda’s last imported patient was discharged on 16 July and that 42 days then passed with no new confirmed case. Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases, 15 imported and five local, with two deaths. That outbreak is closed in Uganda. It is not closed in the DRC.
DRC Itineraries Still Trigger Heightened Screening
FCDO’s current wording is binary: extra screening is off for Uganda arrivals and on for DRC arrivals. The origin that matters is the country you are arriving from, not the passport you hold. A Kampala overnight is not the same as a last departure from Kinshasa or Goma.
The May package, as the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators summarized it, asked arrivals from or transiting the DRC or Uganda to complete a Traveler’s Surveillance Form and to expect temperature checks. TATO pointed operators to the Ministry of Health form at afyamsafiri.moh.go.tz. For DRC-origin trips, keep that form and extra immigration time in the plan until Tanzania’s health ministry publishes a matching lift.
FCDO is the UK government’s understanding of Tanzania’s rules, not a Tanzania gazette. If an officer still hands you the form after a Uganda routing, complete it. Arrive with routing proof ready, then follow the desk in front of you. Air arrivals at Julius Nyerere in Dar es Salaam or Kilimanjaro near Arusha should add 30 to 45 minutes if the last country was the DRC.
Mpox Temperature Checks Still Apply to Every Arrival
Dropping Uganda’s Ebola layer does not mean a temperature-free arrival. FCDO still says you will need to pass through mpox screening, in the form of body temperature checks, at all points of entry into Tanzania. That rule is written as a general arrival control, not as a DRC-only or Uganda-only control.
Temperature screening is usually a short extra stop, not a visa. It still changes the first hour in country when several flights bank at once, which is common at Kilimanjaro during safari bank-change days and at Dar es Salaam when regional and long-haul banks overlap. Have your yellow-fever certificate and e-visa or on-arrival paperwork in hand so you are not digging for documents in the health queue.
FCDO’s health page separately flags dengue, malaria, cholera, and mpox as Tanzania health risks, and it reminds travelers that medical facilities are limited outside Dar es Salaam. That is context for insurance and packing, not a new entry ban. The operational point for this story is simpler: everyone still meets a thermometer, and DRC arrivals still meet the extra Ebola layer on top.
Other Tanzania Entry Documents Still Sit Beside Screening
The screening change does not rewrite the rest of the arrival stack. FCDO still requires a passport valid for at least six months after you arrive, with at least one blank page, plus a tourist or business visa. Apply for the e-visa before travel. A single-entry visa may also be available on arrival at main ports. Multiple-entry visas are not issued on arrival, and you must be ready to show a return or onward ticket.
Yellow-fever proof is still required if you arrive from a listed transmission-risk country. Uganda often sits on that list, so a Uganda-to-Tanzania routing can still need the yellow card after the Ebola screening lift. Check TravelHealthPro against your exact origin.
Mandatory inbound travel insurance is a separate 1 October 2026 rule, with one policy based on first point of entry. Deep Arrival’s live explainer on Tanzania’s $44 entry insurance deadline covers premiums and portals. British Airways’ later Kilimanjaro flying, in the Gatwick to Kilimanjaro 2027 launch, does not change today’s gates.
Mixed East Africa Itineraries Need a First-Entry Check
A 2026 safari is often a loop. Entebbe to Kilimanjaro is an Uganda arrival on that sector. Kigali or Nairobi into Dar es Salaam is neither, unless Tanzania treats an earlier DRC origin as transit. When the routing is messy, carry the last boarding pass and the full e-ticket chain.
TATO’s May note applied the surveillance form to people arriving from or transiting the DRC or Uganda. FCDO’s newer line is shorter. If you transit Entebbe on a DRC-origin ticket, assume the stricter DRC reading until an officer or a Tanzania ministry notice says otherwise. That costs only form time.
Zanzibar does not create a second Ebola screening event after a mainland entry, and the reverse is the same once you are inside the United Republic. Remaining health work is ordinary symptom awareness unless a domestic airport or port posts its own check.
| If you… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Arrive from Uganda | Standard immigration plus mpox temperature checks. FCDO no longer lists extra Ebola screening after 27 August. |
| Arrive from the DRC | Keep the May surveillance form and extra border time. Heightened Ebola screening remains. |
| Transit Uganda on a DRC ticket | Carry the full routing chain and complete any form you are handed. |
| Arrive from anywhere else | Budget for mpox checks, visa, yellow fever, and 1 October insurance. |
27 August 2026 is the WHO all-clear for Uganda. That is the date FCDO now cites when it says Tanzania’s extra Ebola screening no longer applies to Uganda arrivals.
29 September 2026 is the FCDO wording travelers can quote. ATTA dated the public UK update there. Screenshot the entry-requirements page into your trip file before you fly.
1 October 2026 is still the insurance gate. Screening relief does not replace the NIC or ZIC inbound policy at first point of entry.
Does Tanzania still screen Uganda arrivals for Ebola?
FCDO says heightened health screening is no longer in place for travelers arriving into Tanzania from Uganda, after WHO declared Uganda’s outbreak over on 27 August 2026.
Do DRC arrivals still face extra Tanzania health checks?
Yes. The same UK entry page says the extra screening remains for travelers arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
When did WHO say Uganda’s Ebola outbreak ended?
27 August 2026, after 42 days with no new confirmed case following the last imported patient’s discharge on 16 July 2026, WHO Africa and Africa CDC said.
Are mpox temperature checks still required in Tanzania?
Yes. FCDO says body-temperature mpox screening still applies at all points of entry, including for travelers who no longer face the Uganda Ebola layer.
Does the screening lift replace Tanzania’s $44 travel insurance?
No. Mandatory inbound insurance from 1 October 2026 is a separate entry rule. Buy the official NIC or ZIC policy for your first point of entry.
Do I still need a yellow fever certificate from Uganda?
Often yes if Uganda is treated as a yellow-fever transmission-risk origin. That vaccine rule is separate from the Ebola screening lift. Check TravelHealthPro against your routing.
