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Ebola outbreak kills 16 in Uganda
An Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak has been ongoing in Uganda since July 6, and to date, there are 53 confirmed cases and 16 deaths, according to a WHO press release.
Thirty-two people have been admitted to an isolation facility in Kagadi Hospital in the Kibaale district. Overall, 312 contacts have been identified, of whom 253 are being closely followed-up, according to the most recent WHO press release.
Although there does not appear to be an expansion of the outbreak beyond Kibaale district, a clinical officer who attended to a case in Kibaale district was transferred to Mulago Hospital in Kampala for treatment and later died. Therefore, officials are monitoring seven health care workers who attended to the clinical officer; none of them has so far developed symptoms of the disease, according to the press release.
According to the release, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Uganda is working with stakeholders and partners to control the outbreak, and final plans are being made at the national and district levels. Officials from WHO, CDC and MoH are in Kibaale to assist in the response operations.
Neighboring districts have been placed on high alert, and disease surveillance has been enhanced. Currently, there are no recommendations from WHO that any travel or trade restrictions are applied to Uganda.
Check back with www.healio.com/Infectious-Disease for updates on the outbreak.
Perspective
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Ebola Fever outbreaks have been sporadic but devastating. They have occurred widely across Sub-Saharan Africa and the trigger for outbreaks is unknown. The virus is one of the deadliest known, with case fatality ratios often exceeding 70%. There is no proven chemotherapeutic intervention and no vaccine. For some time, the reservoir in nature was unknown, but some current evidence implicates fruit bats. Still, the mechanism for outbreaks remains unknown. Control measures center on strict quarantine of suspect cases and minimizing exposure to secretions of cases, as body fluids are highly infectious.