Hepatitis E Outbreak Kills Nine Ugandans

Found this from Bloomberg:

"Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- An outbreak of Hepatitis E in Uganda killed at least nine people in four districts over the last week, bringing the death toll since July 17 to 25, the Daily Monitor reported, citing the Health Ministry.

The disease has killed 106 of 6,563 people infected in the northern districts of Kitgum, Gulu, Pader and Yumbe since October 2007, when cases of the illness were first detected, the Kampala-based newspaper said, citing Kenya Mugisha, director of clinical health services at the ministry.

Hepatitis is transmitted through water contaminated with feces. The virus, common in neighboring South Sudan, causes jaundice and fever. The first reports of the outbreak came from refugee camps in Kitgum housing people displaced by a two-decade insurgency by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army."

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Fortunately, Hepatitis E is very very rare in the USA and most Western nations.