Uganda confirmed seven Ebola infections on Thursday as authorities try to trace 43 contacts of Ebola patients two days after authorities in the East African country announced an outbreak of the contagious disease.
A total of eight deaths, including one confirmed, are “attributable to the virus”said Dr. Henry Kyobe, a Ugandan military officer who is tracking Ebola cases. He spoke of a situation “rapid evolution” in which “We believe that cases may increase in a few days.”
The epicenter of the outbreak is the central Ugandan district of Mubende, whose main town is along a highway to the capital, Kampala. That travel link and several crowded artisanal gold mines there are concerning, Kyobe told the World Health Organization.
Ugandan authorities have yet to find the source of the outbreak, nor have they discovered the first key case.. But they were able to confirm a Sudan-type Ebola outbreak earlier this week after testing a sample from a 24-year-old man who had been initially treated for other illnesses, including malaria and pneumonia, when he sought care in Sudan’s hometown. the. Six others in the same area, including three children, died in early September after suffering from what local officials called a rare illness.
There is no proven vaccine for the Sudanese strain of Ebola, and “it is very critical at this time that we treat this outbreak as serious, because we may not have the advantage that we have gained in terms of advances in medical countermeasures,” he said. Dr. Patrick Otim, WHO epidemiologist in Africa.
Ebola, which is transmitted by contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials, manifests itself as a deadly hemorrhagic fever. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, and sometimes internal and external bleeding.
Scientists do not know the natural reservoir of the virus, but suspect that the first victim of an Ebola outbreak becomes infected through contact with an infected animal.
Uganda has had multiple Ebola outbreaks, including one in 2000 that killed more than 200 people.
Last month, Congolese authorities said a new Ebola case in the eastern city of Beni was linked to an earlier outbreak.
Congo’s 10th Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces killed more than 2,000 people between 2018 and 2020. During that time, neighboring Uganda reported some cases that authorities said were linked to the outbreak in the Congo.
(with information from AP)
KEEP READING:
Uganda confirms first death from Sudanese strain of Ebola in over 10 years
After the Ebola outbreak in the Congo, vaccination began in the Ivory Coast due to the appearance of a case
The Ebola virus resurfaced in the Republic of Congo and worries the WHO
Source-www.infobae.com