Uganda’s health ministry official on Thursday confirmed seven cases of Ebola including that of a 24-year-old man who died earlier this week, amid the latest outbreak of the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus, reported The CGTN Africa.
On Thursday, Dr Henry Kyobe, the Ebola Incident Commander, told reporters that they forecast an increase in cases but actions are underway to protect the population and health workers.
“As of today, we have seven confirmed cases, one confirmed Ebola death and seven probable [Ebola] deaths,” Dr. Kyobe said.
He said the Uganda’s health authorities have listed 43 contacts of the victims and contact tracing is going on. He added that there is no approved drug or vaccine for the disease.
“But there are trial drugs using the monoclonal antibody technology. Largely, the treatment is mainly on supportive care. This strain has no vaccine and for now, the plan for the vaccine is not on the table but it is being considered as soon as we have some,” he said.
Dr. Kyobe said the health authorities are working to inform the population about what the Ebola virus is, what are its symptoms, and how they can identify the patients and get them to early in care.
Notably, Uganda has had multiple Ebola outbreaks, including one in 2000 that killed more than 200 people. Last month, authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said a new case of Ebola in the eastern city of Beni was linked to a previous outbreak.
More than 2,000 people died during the 10th outbreak of Ebola in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri from 2018 to 2020. During that time, Uganda reported some cases that authorities said were linked to the outbreak in Congo.
Ebola Virus Disease is transmitted through contact with the blood, stool or fluids of an infected person and objects that have been contaminated with body fluids from an infected person.
