Ebola in Uganda: Cases on the rise

AA/Kinshasa/Pascal Mulegwa

Uganda’s Ebola virus disease has surpassed 30 cases in Mubende district, where the outbreak was declared on September 20, the World Health Organization said on Saturday, not ruling out spread to neighboring countries.

“Infections have increased in all districts of Uganda, bringing the number of confirmed and suspected deaths to 23,” the WHO added.

“However, no cases have been detected in the capital, Kampala,” the WHO said in a statement, adding that the country had “an overall number of 36 cases,” including “18 confirmed and 18 probable cases.”

Mubende District has reported 14 confirmed and 18 probable cases, while Kyekwa District has reported three confirmed cases. Another case was confirmed in Kasanda.

On Friday, the country recorded two recovered cases, while there is no treatment or vaccine for the Ebola (Sudan) strain.

This is the first time since 2012 that an Ebola virus caused by Sudanese virus (SUDV) has been reported in Uganda.

According to the WHO, “importation of cases to neighboring countries cannot be excluded at this stage”.

Uganda’s Ebola outbreak is proving more difficult to manage than recent outbreaks, but President Yoweri Museveni recently rejected calls for a lockdown.

The country is already accustomed to the Zaire strain that is regularly reported in neighboring Congo (Kinshasa). The Zaire strain was responsible for the largest ever outbreak of Ebola in West Africa from December 2013 to 2016. More than 11,000 people died as a result.

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