The UK Health Security Agency has updated its Returning Workers Scheme for organisations with UK resident staff deployed to areas affected by Ebola or Marburg virus, including parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
The scheme applies to workers who may be directly exposed to the viruses through their duties overseas. It is intended to support screening, health monitoring and guidance when those staff return to the UK.
According to the latest GOV.UK update, the scheme is active in relation to Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, and Marburg disease in Kyegegwa District in Uganda’s Western Region.
For the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UKHSA said the arrangements apply to all workers returning from affected areas. This includes people working in health, humanitarian, government, private sector and other roles.
The agency has also widened the requirement for some categories of staff returning from the DRC. Health and humanitarian workers are covered by the scheme even if they have been working in areas of the country not currently listed as affected.
For Uganda, the scheme applies to humanitarian, healthcare and response workers returning from affected locations. It also covers UK Government staff and others deployed to support Ebola or Marburg responses, as well as personnel working in settings where direct exposure may be possible.
Organisations are being asked to contact the Returning Workers Scheme team to register and obtain further information. The UKHSA said this helps it put screening arrangements in place quickly and provide updates and guidance to employers.
The arrangements are relevant to a wide range of organisations involved in outbreak response and field operations. These may include medical teams, aid agencies, government departments, contractors and other employers whose staff travel to areas where high consequence infectious diseases are being managed.
The Returning Workers Scheme was set up in November 2014 during the period of international response to Ebola outbreaks. It has since become part of the UK’s wider system for monitoring people who return from work in areas affected by high consequence infectious diseases.
Ebola and Marburg are viral haemorrhagic fevers that require strict infection prevention and control measures. Workers deployed during outbreaks may have contact with patients, clinical settings, laboratories, community response operations or logistical support systems connected to the public health response.
The scheme does not stop workers from travelling or returning to the UK. Its purpose is to ensure that people who may have been exposed are identified, assessed and given appropriate instructions after arrival, while public health teams have clear contact points through their employers.
For international response operations, such monitoring systems are part of the practical infrastructure that supports deployment. They help organisations plan staff movement, maintain records and manage risk when personnel travel between outbreak zones and their home country.
The latest update also reflects the changing nature of outbreak reporting. GOV.UK’s page has been revised several times in recent years as outbreaks have been declared, monitored and later removed from the active list in countries including the DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia.
UKHSA directs organisations to its guidance on viral haemorrhagic fevers, including epidemiology, diagnosis and management. Employers with staff who may fall within the scheme are advised to register through the agency’s dedicated returning workers contact point.
The updated arrangements underline the need for employers to plan health monitoring alongside travel, staffing and operational logistics when deploying personnel to outbreak affected areas. For workers returning from the DRC and Uganda, UKHSA’s scheme remains the main route for coordinating post deployment screening and advice in the UK.
