Uganda confirms 3 new Ebola cases

The ministry of Health has confirmed three new cases of Ebola Virus Disease, bringing the total number of confirmed infections recorded in Uganda to five.

The new cases include a Ugandan driver who transported the country’s first confirmed patient and later succumbed to complications linked to the disease, as well as a health worker who had been involved in managing the patient.

According to Dr Charles Olaro, the director general of health services, the third new case involves a Congolese woman who entered Uganda through the Arua border before travelling to Entebbe.

A statement from the ministry of Health indicates that the woman used a chartered flight from Arua to Entebbe and later sought treatment at a private hospital in Kampala.

The hospital reportedly discharged the woman, who subsequently travelled back to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, samples taken by Ugandan authorities later returned positive for Ebola after she had already left the country.

The latest infections come as Ugandan authorities continue to contest the World Health Organization’s decision to classify Uganda together with the DRC in the current outbreak response, despite Uganda having recorded only a handful of confirmed cases compared to the dozens of infections and deaths reported across the border.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Dr Diana Atwine, permanent secretary at the ministry of Health, announced restrictions on travel to the DRC, arguing that Uganda had not registered active positive cases at the time because the only imported patient receiving treatment in the country had tested negative.

Meanwhile, the United States earlier this week updated its travel advisory, warning Americans against travelling to the DRC, South Sudan and Uganda, while advising travellers to reconsider trips to Rwanda because of the Ebola Bundibugyo Virus Disease outbreak in the region.

“The Department’s Travel Advisories for DRC, South Sudan, and Uganda are now Level 4 – Do Not Travel, and the Travel Advisory for Rwanda is Level 3 – Reconsider Travel,” the notice on the U.S. Embassy website stated.

One American who had travelled to the DRC tested positive for Ebola and was later evacuated to Germany for treatment.

The current outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain marks the second such outbreak to be recorded in both Uganda and the DRC. Both countries have previously experienced multiple Ebola outbreaks linked to the Zaire strain.

Health experts warn that the Bundibugyo strain remains a significant public health threat, particularly because there are currently no approved vaccines or specific therapeutics targeting it. Treatment efforts largely rely on supportive care, while the fatality rate for the disease is estimated at about 40 per cent.

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المصدر: The Observer (Uganda)