Ebola death toll in Uganda climbs to nine
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/ebola-death-toll-in-uganda-climbs-to-nine-3972072
Tuesday, October 04, 2022
By AFP
What you need to know: Last month the health ministry announced the landlocked nation's first fatality from the highly contagious virus since 2019, declaring an outbreak in the central district of Mubende. The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in Uganda has risen to nine, the health ministry said Friday, two weeks after the authorities announced an epidemic in the centre of the country.
The new toll rose from seven, the figure given on Friday. Last month the health ministry announced the landlocked nation's first fatality from the highly contagious virus since 2019, declaring an outbreak in the central district of Mubende. Ebola is an often-fatal viral haemorrhagic fever named after a river in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where it was discovered in 1976.
Human transmission is through bodily fluids, with the main symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea. Outbreaks are difficult to contain, especially in urban environments. The health ministry tweeted on Monday that the total number of Ebola cases identified in the country stood at 43, with nearly 900 contact cases identified. Last week President Yoweri Museveni ruled out imposing a lockdown to contain the virus, saying that "government has capacity to control this outbreak as we have done before".
People who are infected do not become contagious until symptoms appear, which is after an incubation period of between two and 21 days. At present there is no licensed medication to prevent or treat Ebola, although a range of experimental drugs are in development. Uganda, which shares a porous border with the DRC, has experienced several Ebola outbreaks, most recently in 2019 when at least five people died. Last week the DRC declared an end to an Ebola virus outbreak that emerged in eastern North Kivu province six weeks ago. Only one case of the virus had been confirmed, according to the World Health Organization, making the DRC's Ebola outbreak its "least catastrophic".
Ebola deaths shoot up to 21
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/ebola-deaths-shoot-up-to-21-3961764
Monday, September 26, 2022
By Tonny Abet & Barbra Nalweyiso
Statistics from the Health Ministry indicate that the number of confirmed and suspected Ebola infections has increased to 34 while deaths attributable to the outbreak stand at 21.
This is an increase from 31 suspected and confirmed cases of infections as of Saturday. The number of deaths was at 19 on Saturday.
This information is contained in the update given last evening by Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the spokesperson of the Health ministry.
He said of the cumulative cases which stand at 34, the 16 are laboratory confirmed while 18 are probable. Similarly, of the 21 deaths, four are confirmed while 17 are probable.
“Cases reported outside Mubende include three in Kyegegwa and one in Kassanda but all linked to the index case in Mubende,” he said, adding that there are “no confirmed cases in Kampala as yet”.
The Kampala Capital City Authority told this publication that the results for the suspected Ebola death in the city will be out by today.
Districts where confirmed and suspected cases have been reported include Kassanda, Kampala, Kisoro, Kakumiro, Mubende, Kyegegwa, and Lyantonde.
Health authorities said samples from suspected cases are being analysed at the Uganda Virus Research Institute.
The ministry appealed to the population to adhere to preventive measures and report any suspected cases to nearby health facilities or authorities.
According to the Health ministry, Ebola is transmitted through contact with the blood, stool or fluids of an infected person and objects that have been contaminated with body fluids from an infected person.
One can also contract the disease through contact with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats and other wild animals.
The known symptoms of Ebola include high body temperatures, fatigue, chest pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, unexplained bleeding, yellowing of the eyes. Bleeding is usually a late presentation after the above symptoms, according to the Health ministry.
Gaps emerge in Ebola contact tracing
The Ministry of Health at the weekend expressed concern over the gaps in contact tracing.
While delivering his message at the national taskforce meeting at Mubende District headquarters on Saturday, Lt Col Henry Kyobe, the incident commander, said they are tracing 213 contacts.
“As we speak today (Saturday) we have 213 cumulative contacts. Contact tracing is still a challenge madam chair (Minister). The biggest proportion numbering 118 (55 percent) are health workers, meaning that community contacts have not all been listed which creates a challenge. We may actually have cases that emerge outside our conference,” he said.
Health minister Jane Ruth Aceng demanded a robust contact tracing.
“Do you understand that the most important surveillance is contact tracing? You are failing in this area. All these partners are here for contact tracing but the message we get now is about people waiting for money. By the time money arrives, many people would have died,’’ Dr Aceng said.
“We have many partners on ground yet the number of contact persons is still low. Today (Septempter 24), you have reported 15 confirmed cases; it means cases are beginning to move faster than us, so if we don’t move faster we are in trouble. We have many Partners on surveillance in Mubende but we want all activities harmonised for better coordination.
Uganda's Ebola death toll rises to 12
https://observer.ug/news/headlines/75251-uganda-s-ebola-death-toll-rises-to-12
· September 21, 2022
· Written by URN
The number of people who have died from Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Mubende district has risen to 12, according to authorities.
By today morning, the death toll stood at eight people. But officials say that two more people died this morning in the hospital while three others died in a village in Madudu sub county, the same area where the first case was confirmed two days ago. The first seven people including an enrolled nurse died before the outbreak was confirmed.
Dr Emmanuel Paul Batibwa, the director of Mubende Regional Referral hospital says that 10 other people are currently admitted with severe signs of Ebola. He added that four contacts of a victim who died in Kyaka refugee settlement have also been sent to Mubende hospital for screening and that their samples have been sent to the Uganda Virus Research Institute.
Batibwa says that a team of taskforce members has been dispatched to the community to carry out surveillance and investigate the private clinics where the first patients were reportedly treated. He asked the public to be vigilant and take precautionary measures to control the disease.
Karen Besigye, the secretary for health in Mubende district said that they have recorded five new patients from Kyaka II resettlement camp and that three people were reported dead in Kirwanyi village. She explains that surveillance teams have been dispatched to establish the cause of death.
Mubende resident district commissioner Rosemary Byabashaija said that plans are underway to limit events and gatherings as one of the measures to reduce the possible spread of the disease. She added that more restrictions are being drawn among them limiting public gatherings.
Byabashaija appealed to the people to seek medical assistance from a government hospital in case of any suspicion for easy case management. She said that the district task force will dispatch a team to camp in Madudu sub-county to continue sensitizing the communities as well as surveilling, tracking the sick and assessing the situation.
Rare Ebola outbreak declared in Uganda
https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/09/1127181
20 September 2022
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that a sample taken from a 24-year-old man was identified as the relatively rare Sudan strain.
It is the first time in more than a decade that the Sudan strain has been found in Uganda, which also saw an outbreak of the Zaire strain of Ebola virus in 2019.
Suspicious deaths
The latest outbreak follows six suspicious deaths in Mubende district so far this month. There are also eight suspected cases who are receiving care in a health facility.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa, said that the UN agency was working closely with Ugandan authorities to investigate the source, and support efforts to control it.
“Uganda is no stranger to effective Ebola control”, she said. “Thanks to its expertise, action has been taken to quickly to detect the virus and we can bank on this knowledge to halt the spread of infections.”
No effective vaccine
Existing vaccines against Ebola have proved effective against the Zaire strain but it is not clear if they will be as successful against the Sudan strain, WHO said in a statement.
Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates. It has six different strains, three of which - Bundibugyo, Sudan and Zaire - have previously caused large outbreaks.
Case fatality rates of the Sudan strain have varied from 41 per cent to 100 per cent in past outbreaks. Early roll-out of supportive treatment has been shown to significantly reduce deaths from Ebola, WHO said.
Sending supplies
The agency has dispatched supplies to support the care of patients and is sending a specialized tent that will be used to isolate patients.
While ring vaccination of high-risk people with Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV) vaccine has been highly effective in controlling the spread of Ebola in recent outbreaks in DRC and elsewhere, said WHO, this vaccine has only been approved to protect against the Zaire strain.
Another vaccine produced by pharmaceutical company Johnson and Johnson may be effective but has yet to be specifically tested against the Sudan strain.