The Ministry of Health in Uganda has confirmed that nine people in the country were infected with Ebola, one case being fatal. In a late Monday statement, the authorities also said seven new cases were already being treated in a hospital in Kampala while one patient is being treated in Mbale city, which lies close to Kenya’s border.
All eight hospitalized patients are reported to be stable. In light of the outbreak, a total of 265 contacts of the confirmed cases have been placed under quarantine to prevent further transmission.
The country announced an outbreak of the Sudan type of Ebola last month, a variant for which there is currently no approved vaccine. The WHO has noted that symptoms can take between two to 21 days to appear after infection and include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, fatigue, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and bleeding from various orifices. It is therefore very infectious, requiring isolation and treatment of patients.
In an effort to stem the outbreak, Uganda has begun a test vaccination campaign targeting the Sudan strain that WHO identified last month. According to Mike Ryan, the emergencies director with WHO, the vaccine is promising since it is on the same platform as the Ebola Zaire vaccine, which was a success. About 2,400 doses will be used in an outbreak.
However, the current outbreak presents new challenges. There seems to be a big gap in communication from the government authorities on the details of the outbreak. The tourism sector has also complained, citing that the way the outbreak was declared has affected their business negatively. The hesitancy among some of the people exposed to the virus to accept the new vaccine complicates the response effort even more.
