Uganda Ebola Outbreak: 350 Quarantined

Well first it was Congo, now Uganda has an Ebola outbreak. I wish I could say that the Congolese Ebola spread to Uganda, but the two countries happen to be separated by the rather large country of Zaire, so that seems unlikely. I guess the virus is just endemic in central Africa... Here's the story from AllAfrica:

"About 350 people who have had contact with Ebola victims have been confined to their homes for monitoring in Bundibugyo and Kasese districts. About 253,000 people in the five sub-counties of Bundibugyo district are at risk of contracting the deadly hemorrhagic fever, the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health said yesterday.

They added that Bundibugyo town council was the most affected.

"We have established that 335 such people participated in burying some of the cases, either as relatives or sympathizers," the Bundibugyo district chairman, Jackson Bambalira, said.

The National Task Force put the figure of the people being followed at 327.

"I am greatly worried that a bigger Ebola bomb could explode, claiming many more lives," Bambalira said.

He added that another 20 people in Kasese had also been confined at home. The suspects were tracked down by local and international experts this week.

Since August when the killer disease broke out, ninety-three were confirmed infected, 24 of whom have died among them Dr Jonah Kule, and four health workers. Kasese, Mbarara and Kabarole districts have been put on high alert.

Blood specimens are being collected for testing at the newly-established Ebola lab, which begins to work this weekend. Results will now be out within 24 hours unlike in the past when the samples would be taken to the US.

Community leaders in Bundibugyo and Kasese have also been registering suspected cases and deaths. LCs have been ordered to restrict movement into homesteads where cases are suspected.

UPDF doctors have also joined the local and international experts in Bundibugyo to combat Ebola, including sensitizing the population. Dr. Kule and the other health workers who died of Ebola were buried yesterday at Bundibugyo Hospital."

--------------------------------------------

I would like to take this time to personally honor Dr. Kule, and all those like him who risk disease and death to help developing nations get medical care. They, in my mind, are true heroes and deserve recognition; especially at a time like this, when one of them dies "in the line of duty."