South Sudanese Government Increases Vigilance Along Borders With Ebola-Hit Uganda

South Sudanese government on Tuesday said it has increased vigilance along its borders following an outbreak of the Ebola-Sudan strain in neighboring Uganda, reported The Xinhuanet.

Victoria Anib Majur, the undersecretary in the South Sudanese Health Ministry, advised communities living along the border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to report any suspicious case of Ebola to health authorities as early as possible.

“We are very concerned about the Ebola outbreak in Uganda because we share the border,” Majur told reporters in Juba. “We have a lot of movement across the border, our families are in Uganda and Ugandans are on this side.”

She also urged the people to avoid eating bushmeat as Ebola spreads to humans through animals.

Majur said that national assessment teams will be deployed in the border areas of Yambio and Nimule bordering both DRC and Uganda, respectively.

Last month, the DRC government announced an Ebola outbreak after detecting a 46-year-old woman living in the Beni city, in the province of North Kivu.

Majur added that they would work in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) to promote public awareness of the Ebola virus disease.

Fabian Ndenzako, the acting WHO Representative for South Sudan, said that the South Sudanese health ministry has already activated the incident management system for Ebola virus disease.

“There is a lot of movement across the border, so it’s really important that this incident management system is really activated,” Ndenzako said.

He said while no Ebola cases have been reported in South Sudan, it is necessary to be prepared considering the proximity and closeness with neighbouring countries with Ebola cases.

Since the discovery of Ebola in 1976, the majority of cases and outbreaks have occurred in Africa.

According to the WHO, the 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak ever.