The president of Uganda is calling on people in the East African country
to avoid physical contact, including handshaking and kissing, to
prevent the spread of the deadly and highly contagious Ebola virus that
is believed to have killed 14 people in the last few weeks.
The
disease has no known cure or vaccine and some strains can kill up to 90
percent of victims within days. Ugandans are so fearful of the disease
that residents in Kibaale province where the outbreak was reported said
that people immediately fled the hospital after hearing patients with
Ebola were there.
In a nationally televised speech today,
President Yoweri Museveni said health officials are working to contain
the disease to the rural district where the outbreak was confirmed
Saturday, but at least one of the suspected victims was taken to a
hospital in the capital city of Kampala. Now, nearly two dozen medical
workers at Mulago Hospital are being held in isolation.
"We
have asked people in the whole country to be careful and aware of those
who present with symptoms. We have informed health facilities of the
right way to respond," said Dr. Anthony Mbonye at Uganda's Ministry of
Health.
[Related: 5 things you should know about Ebola]
Mbonye said no other patients at Mulago Hospital in Kampala are at
risk, and he is optimistic the outbreak in the Kibaale district 125
miles west of the capital city can be contained soon.
"I have hope because since Friday we have not had any new suspected cases of Ebola," he said.
However, another health official from the affected district told the
Associated Press up to six more patients suspected to have Ebola have
been admitted to a hospital there and said people in other villages are
reporting possible Ebola infections.
Mbonye said people are
frightened because many illnesses that are common in the region, such as
malaria, have the same symptoms as Ebola. He said health officials have
to balance the need to inform the public while not wanting to cause
unnecessary panic. In Kibaale, schools are closed and social gatherings
have been cancelled.
Experts from the World Health Organization
and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in Uganda
to advise health officials responding to the outbreak.
[Related: Mysterious nodding disease afflicts young Ugandans]
People infected with Ebola usually have flu-like symptoms at first.
They can then begin bleeding internally and externally as their vital
organs shut down.
Ebola was named for the river near where it
was first reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976.
Scientists believe an Ebola outbreak usually begins when a human
contracts the disease from an infected animal.
The CDC operates
a laboratory in Uganda where a team of scientists is studying Ebola and
other deadly viruses in Africa. In the past couple of years, U.S.
defense officials expressed concern that terrorists could try to use
Ebola as a biological weapon. The threat posed by Ebola and other little
understood viral diseases has been dramatized by best-selling books
such as "The Hot Point" and Hollywood movies like "Outbreak" and
"Contagion."
This is the third outbreak of Ebola in Uganda
since 2000 when 224 people were killed. At least 42 people were killed
in another outbreak in 2007, and there was a single confirmed case in
2011.
JT Grade DVM, PhD
Uganda: +256-758 899777
USA: +1-415 858 4262
Belgium: +32-488 94449
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