11 dead in suspected and confirmed Ebola cases in Uganda
Ugandan Ministry of Health holds a press conference in Kampala
By Nimi Princewill and AnneClaire Stapleton, CNN
In the last 24 hours, Uganda has recorded four confirmed cases of Ebola, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 11, the country’s health ministry reported Friday in a statement.
The Ugandan Health Ministry considers a “probable case” as any person who died from suspected EVD (ebola) and had an epidemiological link to a confirmed case but was not tested and did not have lab confirmation. The ministry considers “confirmed cases” for those with positive lab results.
Around 25 patients are being admitted at a health facility in the East African country’s Mubende district where the Ebola outbreak was detected, the ministry said, while also stating that six of the cases had been confirmed to be infected while 19 were suspected of having the virus.
Providing more details on the spread, the ministry said a total of 58 contacts of the confirmed cases had been traced.
Uganda declared an Ebola outbreak on Tuesday after a case of the rare Sudan strain was detected in the country. The patient, now deceased, was a 24-year-old man in the Mubende district.
One of the probable Ebola-related casualties was a 1-year-old child, health authorities said in an earlier statement.
Uganda has experienced four Ebola outbreaks. The deadliest left over 200 people dead in 2000.
According to the WHO, vaccination against the rare Sudan strain hasn’t been tested for efficacy. However, the Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV) vaccine has been found to be effective in protecting against the Zaire variant of the Ebola virus.
Uganda borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is experiencing an Ebola resurgence following outbreaks this year.
The-CNN-Wire
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