Ugandan Health Ministry has confirmed four additional cases of Ebola in the last 24 hours bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 15.
Three new deaths were reported bringing the cumulative deaths to 11, eight deaths were from the community while three others were health facility based, including confirmed Ebola and probable cases.
Through a statement, the government said that currently there are 25 cases on admission at Mubende district health facility where the Ebola outbreak was detected, out of which, six are confirmed cases while 19 are suspected ones.
The Ministry reported that a total of 58 contacts of the confirmed cases had been traced.
“The Ugandan Health Ministry considers a “probable case” as any person who died from suspected EVD (Ebola) and had an epidemiological link to a confirmed case but was not tested and did not have lab confirmation. The ministry considers “confirmed cases” for those with positive lab results,” read part of the statement from the Health ministry.
One of the probable Ebola-related casualties was a 1-year-old child, health authorities said in an earlier statement.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), vaccination against the rare Sudan strain which is currently on rampage in the country has not been tested for efficacy. However, the Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV) vaccine has been found to be effective in protecting against the Zaire variant of the Ebola virus.
The strain is less contagious than Ebola Zaire, according to Patrick Otim, health emergency officer at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, who also noted that it had a lower fatality rate in past outbreaks.
Otim said that the Zaire strain had a vaccine, however the Sudan strain did not, making the Sudan strain a larger threat.
Uganda borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is experiencing an Ebola resurgence following outbreaks this year
Previously, Uganda has experienced four Ebola outbreaks with the deadliest left over 200 people dead in 2000.
Confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease in Uganda have risen to 11, and three more deaths have been registered as the East African country grapples with containing the deadly disease.
Doctors are working around the clock to mount a response to the relatively rare form of the highly contagious deadly virus, which leaves people vomiting blood and has no approved vaccine with the infections believed to have spread out over an area of about 70km (43m).
Before symptoms like a high fever, diarrhea, and stomach pain appear, Ebola can hibernate for up to 21 days. This implies that there are probably more infections out there that haven’t been found yet.
Bbosa asserted that at the beginning of the month, “people started dying” in a small village in central Uganda’s Mubende area. The last Ebola Sudan strain outbreak in Uganda was reported in 2012.
Bbosa’s report dated September 23, 2022 states that Ebola has spread through rural areas in Uganda for approximately 50 kilometers, with cases concentrating close to a main road connecting the country’s capital, Kampala, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 43 contacts have been found thus far, and ten people are thought to have contracted the infection.
Neighboring countries have remain vigilant as they continue to monitor the situation on the boarders with Kenyan counterparts said to have fastened checkups and testing to publics between the nations.