Uganda confirms seven Ebola cases and one death

Possible seven other people dead from virus

Kampala – Uganda has confirmed seven cases of Ebola including that of a 24-year-old man who died earlier this week.

An additional seven deaths are being investigated as suspected Ebola cases, a health ministry official said yesterday.

The man who died had developed a high fever, diarrhoea and abdominal pains, and was vomiting blood.

After initially being treated for malaria, he was diagnosed as having contracted the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus.

“As of today, we have seven confirmed cases, of whom we have one confirmed death,” Dr Kyobe Henry Bbosa, Ebola incident commander at the Ugandan ministry of health, told a briefing.

“But also we have seven probable cases that died before the confirmation of the outbreak.”

Uganda last reported an outbreak of Ebola Sudan strain in 2012.

In 2019, the country experienced an outbreak of Ebola Zaire.

The virus was imported from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo which was battling a large epidemic in its north-eastern region.

In August, a new case of Ebola virus was confirmed in the city of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

An Ebola vaccination campaign was launched last month in the Congolose city of Beni.