Uganda on Saturday confirmed three new cases of Ebola, bringing the total number of infections in the country’s current outbreak to five, as authorities intensified contact tracing efforts to contain the spread of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus.According to the Ugandan Ministry of Health, the new cases include a driver who transported the country’s first confirmed Ebola patient and a health worker who was exposed to the disease while caring for that patient. Reuters reported that both were identified among known contacts and are currently receiving treatment.The third confirmed case is a woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who entered Uganda suffering from mild abdominal symptoms.
Authorities said she traveled from Arua, near the border, to Entebbe before receiving treatment at a private hospital in Kampala.The ministry said the woman initially showed signs of recovery and returned to Congo, but later tested positive for Ebola after a follow-up investigation was conducted based on information from a pilot who was involved in transporting her.“All contacts associated with confirmed cases are being closely monitored,” the ministry said, urging the public to remain vigilant and report suspected symptoms.
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, and warned that the risk of a national outbreak in Congo remains “very high.”Nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded in Congo, Uganda’s neighbour, which remains the epicenter of the outbreak.The World Health Organization said that delayed discovery, the absence of a vaccine or virus-specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain, the spread of armed violence and rapid movement among the population made Congo particularly vulnerable.This comes after the Director of the World Health Organization in Africa, Mohammed Yaqoub Al-Janabi, warned on Friday against underestimating the outbreak, saying that doing so would be a big mistake. “It would be a big mistake to underestimate it, especially with a virus of this strain, Bundibugyo, for which we have no vaccine,” he said.“So I would really encourage everyone, let’s help each other, we can get this under control,” he added.Al-Janabi also said that the Ebola outbreak in Congo has received relatively limited international attention compared to this month’s Hantavirus outbreak linked to cruise ship passengers from 23 countries.He also warned that even a single contact with Ebola could lead to wider transmission of the disease beyond Congo and Uganda, saying: “You only need one contact to put us all at risk.”
