Uganda confirms surging 7 new Ebola cases

Author: Chany Ninrew | Published: Thursday, September 22, 2022

Uganda's authorities have reassured the public that they have the situation under control (Photo: BBC)

Uganda’s health ministry has confirmed six new Ebola cases after officials confirmed an outbreak in the country earlier in the week.

The new cases were reported in the central district of Mubende where a 24-year-old man was confirmed dead on Tuesday after showing symptoms of the disease.

The authorities are also investigating whether seven other deaths, including that of a one-year-old girl, were due to Ebola.

Addressing journalists in Kampala Thursday, the Ebola Incident Commander Dr Henry Kyobe, said they forecast an increase in cases but actions are underway to protect the population and health workers.

“As of today, we have seven confirmed cases, one confirmed Ebola death and seven probable [Ebola] deaths. We have listed 43 contacts [of the victims] and we are doing contact tracing,” he said.

Of the six new cases, one was reported from a neighboring district.

This is the third outbreak of the Ebola Sudan strain in Uganda.

Over 40 people who contacted a family that reported some of the cases have been traced. Eleven of them are under isolation, said Kyobe Henry Bbosa, the incident management commander from the health ministry.

Dr Kyobe said there is no approved drug or vaccine for the disease.

“But there are trial drugs using the monoclonal antibody technology. Largely, the treatment is mainly on supportive care. This strain has no vaccine and for now, the plan for the vaccine is not on the table but it is being considered as soon as we have some,” he said.

He added: “For now we are concentrated on making sure we inform the population about what it is, guiding them on the measures to be able to protect, guiding them to show us where contacts are –identify them to be able to get patients early in care.”

Neighboring countries said they were on high alert over in case the disease spread across the borders.

Experts say that the Ebola Sudan strain historically has lower levels of transmission, infections and deaths compared to the Ebola Zaire strain.

Ugandan authorities continue to assure the public and international community that they have the capacity to contain the epidemic.

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