A nurse in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, dies after contracting the extremely infectious haemorrhagic fever.
Uganda has confirmed an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Kampala, its capital metropolis, and the dying of a nurse, the Ministry of Well being says.
The sufferer, who died on Wednesday at a Kampala hospital, was a 32-year-old man, Diana Atwine, everlasting secretary of the Well being Ministry, instructed reporters on Thursday.
He sought therapy at numerous services, together with at a public hospital in Mbale, 240km (150 miles) east of Kampala close to the border with Kenya, she stated.
“The affected person skilled multi-organ failure and succumbed to the sickness at Mulago Nationwide Referral Hospital on 29 January. Submit-mortem samples confirmed the Sudan Ebola Virus Illness (pressure),” the Well being Ministry stated in a press release.
It’s Uganda’s first confirmed Ebola fatality since 2023.
Not less than 44 folks, together with 30 well being staff, who got here into contact with the nurse are being traced in an effort to comprise the potential unfold of the extremely contagious virus, the ministry stated.
It added {that a} vaccination drive for all contacts of the deceased will start instantly.
Atwine stated well being authorities are “in full management of the state of affairs”, urging Ugandans to report suspected instances.
An outbreak of Marburg, which is analogous to Ebola, was declared in neighbouring Tanzania final week.
Rwanda, which additionally borders Uganda, has simply emerged from a Marburg outbreak.
A contact-tracing drive could also be difficult as a result of Kampala is a crowded metropolis of greater than 4 million folks. It’s also a bottleneck for visitors into South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and different international locations.
Ebola, a extremely infectious haemorrhagic fever, is transmitted by means of contact with contaminated bodily fluids and tissues. Signs embody headache, vomiting, muscle pains and bleeding.
In recent times, Ugandan authorities have used laboratory testing, contact tracing and different methods to convey Ebola outbreaks below management.
Uganda final suffered an outbreak in late 2022, which killed 55 of the 143 folks contaminated. The deceased included six well being staff.
The East African nation has skilled 9 outbreaks of the viral illness since 2000.
