Nearly 400 tested as Uganda faces deadly Ebola resurgence

By Deandrea Hamilton & Dana Malcolm

Editorial Staff

#Uganda, September 27, 2022 – Uganda has declared an Ebola outbreak after 23 confirmed deaths from the virus and at the case fatality rate revealed at 64 per cent.  There are at least 34 others infected with the disease.

The Health Ministry in Uganda has intensified messages and information on the signs and symptoms of the disease; a help hotline has also been established, said the commissioner of surveillance.

The World Health Organization shared news of the outbreak last week, citing cases of the Sudan ebolavirus was confirmed in Uganda’s Mubende district.

The interventions in the district have brought new fears to the country as quarantines are government managed and can last up to 21 days; already 13 people have escaped prompting continued concern of a mushrooming of case numbers.

Uganda has been largely free of the deadly disease for over a decade, the last outbreak was declared in 2012.

The Sudan Ebolavirus has a very high death rate and in previous outbreaks it has varied between 40 to 100 per cent.

The 2014-2016 outbreak affected Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia most, causing thousands of casualties.

Named after the Ebola River in The Democratic Republic of Congo where it was first found the virus spreads between human to human and human to animal contact. Earlier this year the DRC has a small outbreak caused by animal to human contact.

Media reports now indicate medical professionals have gone on strike at a hospital where several cases were detected; the nurses, pharmacists and trainee doctors have accused the government of not providing sufficient safety against possible infection.