Uganda’s first confirmed Ebola case dead

Author: Chany Ninrew | Published: Wednesday, September 21, 2022

The Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng (left) gestures during the launch of the Ebola vaccination exercise at Muhooti Barracks in Fort Portal City on August 30, 2022. (PHOTO: Daily Monitor).

Uganda government has confirmed that the first officially confirmed case of Ebola virus, a 24-year-old man in Mubende District had died of Ebola Sudan variant, hours after the case was announced on Tuesday.

Daily Monitor newspapers reports early on Wednesday that Jackson Ssembule, a resident of Ngabano in Madudu Sub-count passed away on Monday morning at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital.

The news of the virus outbreak triggered panic in Uganda and across the borders, despite assurances by the government that it is prepared to manage this outbreak or any epidemic.

However, Uganda’s border health officials have told Daily Monitor that they are struggling with scarce machines to check incomers, no personal protective equipment (PPEs) and no gloves.

The health officials at Uganda’s border points with the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan reportedly decried the lack of tools to screen inbound travelers for Ebola Virus Disease.

Amuru District health officer Brown Oneka said: “Our staff are out there doing the screening and checks for any possible cases, we have briefed them and they are aware of the outbreak and they are on high alert.”

He, however, said front-line workers lacked Personal Protection Equipments and even detergents such as JIK to guarantee hygiene.

“… we have gloves and [some] equipment to carry out tests, but Ebola will require a lot of PPEs … if [the spread] gets serious,” Mr Oneka said.

In Kasese District, which borders DR Congo, where there is a subsisting Ebola Zaire infections, district health educator Agnes Mbabu said the thermal scanner at Bwera Border Point, a key equipment for detecting unusual body temperatures of travellers, was damaged in a fire incident six months ago and is yet to be repaired or replaced.

“The machine we are using to screen people is effective but hectic, one has to keep standing to screen people all the time unlike in the past when we were using thermal scanners,” she said.

Leaders expressed concern that exhaustion could lead to loss of concentration, causing incorrect temperature readings or entries.

In Buliisa, near Mubende where the first case was confirmed, District Health Officer, Dr Alex Afeti, said they are awaiting guidance and logistical supplies from the Ministry of Health headquarters in Kampala, about 290 kilometres away.

“We have nothing on ground as per now, when we get what to use, we shall deploy our frontline workers, especially in Wanseko Landing Site on Lake Albert,” he said, adding that they had placed all health workers in the district on high alert to report suspected cases.

But at Oraba border post with South Sudan on the West Nile side, screening of inbound travelers was being conducted due to Covid-19 before the government confirmed the outbreak of Ebola.

One of the health officials who spoke to Daily Monitor on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to speak on the matter, said “concerning the Ebola outbreak in Mubende District, we have received a message from the ministry to be strict in screening”.

Meanwhile, six others deaths of mysterious but uncomfirmed Ebola-like conditions were reported in Uganda’s remote villages. They include three children, two of which were both 10-month-old.

Ebola is an infectious and frequently fatal disease marked by fever and severe internal bleeding. It spread through contact with infected body fluids.

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