Uganda on high alert as mysterious disease kills 8 in Mubende district - Malaria?

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Uganda on high alert as mysterious disease kills six

Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 01:28:10|Editor: huaxia

KAMPALA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- ...

A medical team has been dispatched to the central region district of Mubende, where an isolation center has been set up, ministry of health spokesperson Vivian Nakalika told Xinhua by telephone on Thursday.

Nakalika said they were notified of eight cases a few weeks ago of which six had passed on. The deaths were reported to have happened one week apart.

"A team of experts was dispatched, took samples off one of the surviving cases, and the results turned out negative for all viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Ebola, Marburg and Rift Valley Fever," she said.
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The ministry in May confirmed that one person had succumbed to Congo Crimean hemorrhagic fever in the same district.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-07/27/c_137350432.htm

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Ministry Refers Mubende Samples to CDC

2 Aug 2018, 12:04

The Health Ministry has turned to the Centre for Disease Control-CDC to establish the strange disease claiming lives in Mubende district. The move stems from the failure by Uganda Virus Research Institute-UVRI to provide conclusive results from the samples of the victims of the hemorrhagic fevers provided for analysis.

The dreaded disease was first reported at Kalezi Village in Kibalinga Sub County in the second week of July and has so far claimed six lives. The victims present with high fever, vomiting and pass out blood among others.

The disease was initially suspected to be Congo Crimean hemorrhagic fever since someone had succumbed to the same at Mubende hospital in May.

Vivian Nakalika Sserwanja, the Health Ministry Spokesperson, says after failing to get conclusive results from the samples submitted to Uganda Virus Research Institute, they have dispatched samples to the laboratories of the Center for Diseases Control in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States.
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She says that two more victims presenting signs and symptoms of the dreaded illness have been identified and put into an isolation center at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital. She however says the two have been responding positively to treatment.
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https://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/ministry-refers-mubende-strange-disease-samples-to-cdc

[Ronan Kelly]

14-year-old succumbs to strange disease in Mubende
By Vicky Wandawa

Added 4th August 2018 03:56 PM


A 14 year old boy in Mubende district succumbed to a strange disease on Thursday, following a severe headache and vomiting.

According to a press release from ministry of health, 16 suspected similar cases have been reported, with eight deaths within Kibalinga sub-county in Mubende.

?Seven samples were picked for analysis at the Uganda Virus Research Institute and five patients were isolated in Mubende hospital. Their condition is stable,? reads the press release.

Samples sent to the laboratory have all tested negative for the known viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, rift valley fever, Crimean hemorrhagic fever, Marburg and yellow fever.
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https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1482783/14-succumbs-strange-disease-mubende

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Christopher Kisekka
Updated: 09 Aug, 19:29

Strange Disease Spreads to Kibaale
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The strange disease that has been ravaging residents of Mubende District has spread to Kibaale District causing anxiety among residents.

Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Senior Public Relations Officer in the Health Ministry, says the rapid response team has identified a suspect in Kibaale manifesting signs and symptoms of the strange disease...

He says the suspect is admitted in the isolation Centre at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital.
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The patient from Kibaale brings to eighteen the number of suspects under close supervision in the isolation ward.
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Ainebyoona notes that epidemiologists are still studying the connection between the victims and pattern of the cases as they wait for the results from CDC laboratories, which are expected sooner than later.

https://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/health-ministry-remains-puzzled-as-strange-disease-extends-to-kibaale

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Strange disease case reported in Kibaale district

August 10, 2018 NewsComments: 0
By Lilian Namagembe.

Another strange disease has been reported in the Western district of Kibaale with symptoms similar to those of the first strange cases that were detected in Mubende district in central region about 70 kilometers away.

Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the ministry of health?s senior public relations officer has confirmed that a five year old girl presented with symptoms of vomiting and the headache before her blood samples were taken to Uganda Virus Research institute for further diagnosis.
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He says the girl has been transferred to Mubende Regional Referral Hospital where an isolation unit was created to handle the similar cases.

http://kfm.co.ug/news/strange-disease-case-reported-in-kibaale-district.html

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Health Ministry Re-running Mubende Strange Disease Samples

10 Aug 2018, 17:14
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When the disease first broke out last month, several samples were taken to the Uganda Virus Research Institute which failed to give conclusive results. The samples were sent to Atlanta.

Dr Ruth Aceng, the minister of health says that they are not waiting for the results from Atlanta but also trying to find out what has led to the death of eight people in Mubende.

Aceng, says that other cases with symptoms of the strange disease have been reported in Kibaale and Kitgum districts.

Following the outbreak of Blackwater Fever, the Mubende Strange Disease and Ebola in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, Aceng says that Ugandans should remain calm because the ministry is prepared to handle whatever outbreaks.
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https://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/health-ministry-re-running-mubende-strange-disease-samples

[Shiloh]

Source: http://kfm.co.ug/news/strange-diseas...-district.html
strange disease case reported in Kibaale district

August 10, 2018 By Lilian Namagembe.
Another strange disease has been reported in the Western district of Kibaale with symptoms similar to those of the first strange cases that were detected in Mubende district in central region about 70 kilometers away.
Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the ministry of health?s senior public relations officer has confirmed that a five year old girl presented with symptoms of vomiting and the headache before her blood samples were taken to Uganda Virus Research institute for further diagnosis...

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CDC Results Link Mubende ?Strange Disease' to Malaria

21 Aug 2018, 12:38
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Laboratory analysis results for a strange disease that claimed nine lives in Mubende district in July have concluded that the dreaded illness was severe malaria.

When the disease first broke out earlier in July, mysterious deaths were reported from two villages in the same parish within a space of two weeks. The reported patients presented with high-grade fever, headache, blood stains in vomits and stool. Epidemiologists at the Ministry of Health suspected the illness to be a hemorrhagic fever.

Several samples were taken and dispatched to the Uganda Virus Research Institute, which did not have conclusive results prompting the Ministry of Health to refer them to the Centre for Disease Control-CDC in Atlanta.

Shortly after the samples had been taken to CDC, the illness extended to Kibaale District and 23 suspects presenting with similar signs were admitted in the isolation ward at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital.

Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Ministry of Health spokesperson, notes that findings from the CDC laboratories indicate that the samples tested negative to homorganic fevers with three testing positive for Plasmodium falciparum, a germ known for causing malaria.
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http://direct.ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=110513

[alert]

Published Date: 2018-08-25 20:57:45
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed fever - Uganda (09): (KI, MD) RFI
Archive Number: 20180825.5987721
UNDIAGNOSED FEVER - UGANDA (09): (KIBAALE, MUBENDE) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
************************************************** *************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Fri 17 Aug 2018
Source: Uganda Ministry of Health

http://health.go.ug/press-release

The Ministry of Health, together with its collaborating laboratory in Atlanta, USA, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would like to inform the general public that investigations into the alleged ''strange disease'' reported in Mubende and Kibaale districts have been concluded.

[Unfortunately, the press release cannot be copied. The following is a summary. - Mod.TY]

As of Thu 9 Aug 2018, the investigating team has listed 23 cases, of which 9 died. Blood samples were taken from 7 suspected cases and tested at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, where they were negative for Sudan and Bundibugyo ebolaviruses, Marburg, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, Rift Valley fever, yellow fever, chikungunya, Sosuga, and Zika viruses. One sample was positive for _Plasmodium falciparum_, which causes malaria. These samples were also tested at the USA CDC and were negative for all known hemorrhagic fevers; 3 were positive for malaria.

As of now, all patients who were previous isolated have been discharged from the Mubende Regional Referral Hospital.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail


[Of the samples from 7 patients, 3 were positive for malaria. That leaves 4 patients as undiagnosed. One wonders if these 7 patients reflect the same etiology of the disease of the 16 who were not tested, and especially the 9 who died. If there were postmortem examinations of the 9 who died, the results are not mentioned in the press release. Since the Ministry has declared the outbreak concluded, it seems unlikely that additional studies on the etiologies of the non-malaria patients will be done. ProMED-mail readers interested in the full press release can access it at the above URL. - Mod.TY]

[That a minority of patient samples were positive for malaria is not proof of causation, particularly since the prevalence of even asymptomatic malaria is significant in endemic and holoendemic areas, and the sensitivity of malaria tests is quite high. Thus, the etiology (or etiologies) of this disease cluster remains unanswered