Uganda declares Ebola outbreak after one person dies
The WHO’s Africa office said in a statement the case was confirmed after testing a sample from a 24-year-old man in the country’s Mubende district. Ugandan health authorities investigated six suspicious deaths in the district this month. The country’s Uganda last reported an outbreak of Ebola Sudan in 2012, the WHO said. At least 17 people were killed from the 24 cases identified in that outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which contributed to containing the virus in the east African country at the time.Uganda has experienced four Ebola outbreaks, according to the WHO, with the most deadly witnessed in 2000 which left over 200 people dead.Uganda borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is experiencing an Ebola resurgence following outbreaks this year.Uganda’s last outbreak was in 2019 when it confirmed the Zaire Ebola strain, which led to the death a of 9-year-old Congolese girl near the border with the DRC.According to the WHO, vaccination has been approved against the Zaire strain but inoculation against the Sudan strain hasn’t been tested.
