A 32-year-old nurse in Uganda has died from Ebola, marking the nation's first outbreak in two years. Health authorities are working to contain the spread, tracing contacts and administering vaccinations.
A 32-year-old nurse working at Mulago National Specialized Hospital, the main referral facility in Kampala , Uganda 's capital city, has died from Ebola , marking the nation's first outbreak of the disease in two years. The nurse initially sought treatment at a hospital just outside Kampala before traveling to Mbale, in the east of the country, where he was admitted to a public hospital. Multiple lab tests eventually confirmed he had contracted Ebola .
His death is Uganda's first recorded Ebola fatality since the country's last outbreak ended in early 2023. At least 44 contacts of the deceased have been identified by the country's Ministry of Health, who have initiated immediate vaccination against Ebola for all those individuals. While there is currently no approved vaccine for the Sudan strain of Ebola, Uganda did receive some trial vaccine doses during the last outbreak.Diana Atwine, the Uganda health ministry permanent secretary, urged citizens to promptly report any suspected cases, assuring the public that health authorities were 'in full control of the situation'. Kampala's outbreak could pose a significant challenge due to its highly mobile population of approximately 4 million. Ebola is a highly infectious disease spread through contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, and potentially internal and external bleeding.The World Health Organization (WHO) will provide an initial allocation of $US1 million from its contingency fund to support Uganda's response, while a full-scale response is being initiated by the Ugandan government and its partners. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the support in a statement on social media platform X. This outbreak comes amidst a concerning trend of viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in the East African region. Tanzania recently declared an outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg disease, while Rwanda successfully contained its own Marburg outbreak in December. An ongoing Marburg outbreak in northern Tanzania's Kagera region has claimed at least two lives, according to local health authorities. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo is also investigating 12 potential cases of Ebola in its north-west region, although initial tests have been negative.
Ebola Uganda Outbreak Health Response Vaccination Sudan Strain WHO Kampala Marburg
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