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Uganda: Ebola Strikes Congo; Country Put On Alert
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The Monitor (Kampala)
12 September 2007
Posted to the web 11 September 2007
Hussein Bogere & Agencies
Arua
EBOLA is back.
The deadly haemorrhagic fever for which there is no cure, has been confirmed in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.
Following the announcement, Uganda's Health Ministry has issued a red alert to all border posts. "We are always concerned that is why we have issued a directive to all border posts to be vigilant," said Dr Sam Okware, the commissioner for health and chairperson for the Ebola Task Force.
Samples from five people have tested positive for the Ebola virus in the southern province of Kasai Occidental, where authorities have reported some 120 deaths among 300 sick people in the past four months, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said.
The results of the tests were presented to Dr Okware's team yesterday at the WHO offices in Kampala, prompting the issuance of the alert.
Kasai Occidental province is 2000 kilometres away from Uganda. But although it may seem miles away, the threat of the virus spreading into the country cannot get any serious, medical experts said yesterday.
It is not in doubt that the border between Uganda and the DRC is as porous as it gets given the informal trade relations between the two neighbours. However, Dr Okware said that the more likely route for viral spread is through Entebbe International Airport.
"The people at the airport are aware of what is going on. They should report to us anybody suspicious especially if they have a fever," he said.
The WHO on Tuesday activated its Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network, known as GOARN, asking partner health organisations including the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, where tests on samples from people who tested positive were done, to send epidemiologists and other experts to the DRC.
"The WHO is in the process now of coordinating international teams to go into the area," Mr Hartl said.
So far the only Ebola outbreak recorded in Uganda was in 2000 and claimed the lives of 160 people mainly from Gulu District, including Dr Mathew Lukwiya, the Lacor Hospital superintendent. Lukwiya succumbed to the disease as he treated victims of the deadly fever. The government at the time responded by forming a national task force as well as quarantining people in Gulu District. It was suspected then that Ugandan soldiers returning from fighting in the DRC could have carried the virus into the country although the reports were not confirmed.
Medical experts say the incubation period for the Ebola virus is seven days on average.
The disease, which causes death in 50 to 90 per cent of cases, is transmitted by contact with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons. Symptoms begin with fever and muscle pain, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and in some cases bleeding from orifices. The symptoms are similar to those of the Marburg fever which recently hit Kamwenge District. It was, however, put under control following early intervention by the Ministry of Health.
Although Dr Okware said Marburg fever's reservoir is still a mystery to scientists, he added that, "We sent a sample of over 1000 bats to United States. The results are expected in four weeks, but surveillance is continuing."
Just like Marburg fever, the Ebola virus' natural reservoir is still a puzzle, experts have said, but it seems to reside in African rain forests and in areas of the Western Pacific, according to WHO.
The DRC recorded its first case of Ebola in 1976, although until yesterday's announcement, the last epidemic reported in the vast central African country was in 1995 when 244 people died. Other cases were reported in South Sudan which also borders northern Uganda.
Fears over the spread of the disease could heighten considering that only recently, Congolese refugees poured into Uganda as they run away from fighting between President Kabila's troops and rebel leader Laurent Nkunda. Uganda and DR Congo have also recently had a border dispute following the discovery of oil at the common border.
The WHO said yesterday that it is important to warn communities that Ebola can be transmitted at burial ceremonies where mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased. Publicist, Mr Hartl said the WHO suspected that other diseases such as Shigella disease which is borne by contaminated food or water, could be ravaging the remote Kasia Occidental province.
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"We have to identify cases and isolate cases, separating Shigella patients from Ebola," he said adding, "We know there are five cases confirmed as Ebola. We still believe other things are going on. We have to get more people on the ground in the area to investigate."
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