On Thursday, Uganda reportedly confirmed an Ebola virus epidemic in its capital, heightening concerns about the potential spread of the lethal disease throughout the densely populated East African city.
A 32-year-old male nurse succumbed in Kampala the prior day, and postmortem analyses showed infection with the Sudan strain of Ebola, an atypical variety for which no established vaccinations or treatments exist, stated Diana Atwine, permanent secretary of Uganda’s Health Ministry.
This marks the inaugural documented fatality from Ebola in Uganda since the previous outbreak two years prior. The nation has undergone seven Ebola outbreaks, with four of the Sudan strain.
The nurse, working at the government-operated Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, exhibited flu-like symptoms and pursued treatment at multiple healthcare facilities, including a traditional healer and a hospital in the coffee-producing district of Mbale, located over 150 miles east of the capital, Atwine reported.
Health authorities have identified 44 individuals who had touch with the victim in Kampala, a city with a population of five million.
The interactions include 30 health staff and patients, together with 11 family members. Ebola is transmitted via direct contact with infected bodily fluids and tissues.
In Uganda’s most recent outbreak, the disease resulted in 55 fatalities and affected at least 142 individuals.
The most severe Ebola outbreak in the country resulted in around 224 fatalities in 2001 in the northern district of Gulu.
The majority of notable Ebola outbreaks, including one that resulted in 11,300 fatalities in West Africa from 2013 to 2016, were attributed to a distinct variant of the virus, referred to as the Zaire strain.
Ebola, a hemorrhagic fever virus, can induce uncontrollable hemorrhaging and is lethal in approximately fifty percent of cases, as reported by Johns Hopkins University.
Recent vaccines targeting the Zaire strain, manufactured by U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck and U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline, have effectively mitigated several outbreaks in Uganda, Congo, and Guinea.
The Ugandan Health Ministry is contemplating administering three types of vaccines, stockpiled from the 2022-23 outbreak, to those who were in contact with the Kampala victim, anticipating that at least one will be effective against the Sudan strain.
Health experts are imploring the public to adhere to social distance and comply with hand-washing regulations.
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