Uganda health ministry confirms Ebola outbreak

Uganda health ministry confirms Ebola outbreak
September 20, 2022, 8:51 am

Ebola-Isolation room/Pixabay

Uganda has confirmed an outbreak of Ebola in the country’s Mubende district, its health ministry said on Tuesday (Sep 20) on Twitter.

The ministry said the confirmed case was a 24-year-old man who showed symptoms and later died.

According to the CDC, Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a rare and deadly disease in people and nonhuman primates.

The viruses that cause EVD are located mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. People can get EVD through direct contact with an infected animal (bat or nonhuman primate) or a sick or dead person infected with Ebola virus, it said.

On March 23, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the forested rural region of southeastern Guinea.

The identification of these early cases marked the beginning of the West Africa Ebola epidemic, the largest in history.

Although Ebola is from a different virus family, survivors’ long-term symptoms are similar to those of people with long Covid.

Uganda has had four Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreaks in 2,000, 2014, 2017 and 2018. The biggest and most deadly was in 2000 that registered 425 cases and 224 deaths, the WHO reported.

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The outbreak was characterized by fever and haemorrhagic manifestations, and affected health workers and the general population of Rwot-Obillo, a village 14 km north of Gulu town.

Uganda has had four Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreaks in 2,000, 2014, 2017 and 2018.

Scientists think people are initially infected with Ebola virus through contact with an infected animal, such as a fruit bat or nonhuman primate.

When people become infected with Ebola, they do not start developing signs or symptoms right away. This period between exposure to an illness and having symptoms is known as the incubation period.

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A person can only spread Ebola to other people after they develop signs and symptoms of Ebola.

Additionally, Ebola virus is not known to be transmitted through food. However, in certain parts of the world, Ebola virus may spread through the handling and consumption of wild animal meat or hunted wild animals infected with Ebola. There is no evidence that mosquitoes or other insects can transmit Ebola virus.

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