Announcement

**Ronan Kelly** · July 28, 2012, 10:38 AM

Re: Uganda: Unidentified illness kills 14 including Healthcare worker in Kibaale - Ebola Sudan confirmed

Full version of the AP report here; http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

OFFICIALS: EBOLA BREAKS OUT IN UGANDA
BY RODNEY MUHUMUZA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
...
Health officials told reporters in Kampala that the 14 dead were among 20 reported with the disease. Two of the infected have been isolated for examination by researchers and health officials. A clinical officer and, days later, her 4-month-old baby died from the disease caused by the Ebola virus, officials said.
...

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 11:10 AM

Re: Uganda: Unidentified illness kills 14 including Healthcare worker in Kibaale - Ebola Sudan confirmed

Good catch!

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 11:26 AM

Re: Uganda: Unidentified illness kills 14 including Healthcare worker in Kibaale - Ebola Sudan confirmed

Ebola outbreak in Uganda kills 13

An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has killed 13 people in Uganda and efforts are under way to contain the hemorrhagic fever, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday..

..Joaquim Saweka, WHO's representative in Uganda, said that although suspected Ebola infections emerged in early July in Kibale district, about 170 km (100 miles) west of the capital Kampala, the outbreak was not confirmed until Friday.
"There are a total of 20 people suspected to have contracted Ebola and 13 of them have died," Saweka said.
"A team of experts from the government, WHO and CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control) are in the field and following up on all suspected cases and those who got into contact with patients."
Saweka said the origin of the outbreak had not yet been confirmed, but 18 of the 20 cases are understood to be linked to one family..

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/0...86R0JO20120728

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 11:28 AM

Re: Uganda: Unidentified illness kills 14 including Healthcare worker in Kibaale - Ebola Sudan confirmed

"A team of experts from the government, WHO and CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control) are in the field and following up on all suspected cases and those who got into contact with patients."

http://news.terra.com/ebola-outbreak...ceb0aRCRD.html

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 11:39 AM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens

U.S. Embassy Kampala, Uganda
Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens
Confirmed Case of Ebola Virus in Uganda
July 28, 2012
This Emergency Message is to alert U.S. citizens residing and traveling in Uganda of an outbreak of Ebola virus. On July 27, 2012, local Ugandan press reported 12 deaths due to a ?strange illness.? Laboratory tests conducted by the Uganda Virus Research Institute and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have confirmed, to date, that at least one victim was infected with the Ebola virus (Sudan strain).

The Ugandan Ministry of Health, U.S. CDC, and international partners are investigating the case to determine the extent of the outbreak and if additional cases are present. At this time, the cases appear to be centered in Nyamarunda Sub County, Kibaale district, although one suspected victim is reported to have traveled to Kampala for treatment at Mulago Hospital where he subsequently died on July 22, 2012.

Ebola is a deadly but preventable disease. The virus has the potential to spread from person to person, especially among health-care staff and family members who care for patients with Ebola Viral Hemorrhagic Fever.

A person suffering from Ebola usually presents with sudden fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. A rash, red eyes, hiccups and internal and external bleeding may be seen in some patients. Symptoms become increasingly severe and may include jaundice, severe weight loss, mental confusion, shock, and multi-organ failure. There is no standard treatment for Ebola HF. Patients receive supportive therapy.
The likelihood of contracting Ebola is considered extremely low unless there has been a direct contact with body fluids like saliva, urine, or blood of an infected person or animal or the body of someone who has died from the disease. Since the virus spreads through direct contact with blood and other body secretions of an infected person, people living with and caring for Ebola patients are at a higher risk of becoming infected.

The U.S. Mission in Kampala and the CDC office in Uganda recommend that U.S. citizens residing and traveling in Uganda avoid contact with people exhibiting the symptoms described above. To minimize the risk of contracting Ebola, avoid direct contact with body fluids (blood, saliva, vomit, urine, and stool). Practice good hygiene, such as washing hands carefully and thoroughly with soap and water, or with alcohol-based hand cleanser if soap and water are unavailable. Avoid communal washing of hands during funerals or other public gatherings. Avoid contact with dead animals, especially primates, and refrain from eating ?bushmeat.?

The CDC has additional information on protecting yourself from Ebola viral hemorrhagic fever available at the following websites, and you are encouraged to read this information:
? Main resource page: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola.htm
? Guidance for U.S. citizens living abroad: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/abroad.htm
? Additional information: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.htm

The U.S. Embassy in Kampala encourages U.S. citizens to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) for the most up-to-date safety and security information. Keep all of your information in STEP up-to-date by maintaining your current phone numbers and email addresses where you can be reached in case of an emergency.
You can stay in touch and get updates by checking the U.S. Embassy Kampala website. You can also get global updates at the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs website, where you can find the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Country Specific Information. Follow us on Twitter and the Bureau of Consular Affairs page on Facebook as well, or you can download our free Smart Traveler IPhone App for travel information at your fingertips. Current information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States or a regular toll line at-1-202-501-4444 for callers from other countries. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
The U.S. Embassy is located at Plot 1577 Ggaba Road. Contact information for the U.S. Embassy in Kampala is: phone number +256 (0) (414) 306 001 or +256 (0) (414) 259 791, fax +256 (0) (414) 258 451, and email KampalaUSCitizen@state.gov.

http://kampala.usembassy.gov/emergency_07282012.html

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 12:33 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

Officials urged Ugandans to be calm, saying a national emergency taskforce has been set up to contain the disease.
Kibaale is a district in midwestern Uganda, where people in recent weeks have been troubled by a mysterious illness that seemed to have come from nowhere. Health officials spent weeks conducting laboratory tests that were at first inconclusive.
Joaquim Saweka, WHO's representative in Uganda, said the origin of the outbreak had not yet been confirmed.
"A team of experts from the government, WHO and CDC (US Centers for Disease Control) are in the field and following up on all suspected cases and those who got into contact with patients," he said.
Officials told reporters in Kampala, the capital, that the 14 dead, including a family of 12, were among 20 reported with Ebola, which causes haemorrhagic fever and internal bleeding.
A health worker who treated patients infected by the disease was also among the dead.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa...656776900.html

**Ronan Kelly** · July 28, 2012, 12:58 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

WHO's twitterfeed is beginning to come to life .....

WHO ‏@WHO
The Ministry of Health of Uganda and WHO confirm outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Kabaale district, Midwestern Uganda.

WHO ‏@WHO
20 people have been recorded with Ebola hemorraghic fever in Kabaale district, Uganda, of which 14 people have died.

**Ronan Kelly** · July 28, 2012, 01:05 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

WHO ‏@WHO
A team of experts from the Ministry of Health of Uganda, WHO, CDC is in Kibaale, Uganda, to respond to Ebola hemorraghic fever outbreak.

x.com

https://twitter.com/WHO

**Ronan Kelly** · July 28, 2012, 01:09 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

WHO ‏@WHO
Uganda Ebola outbreak: Summary of infection control recommendations for care to patients with Ebola hemorrhagic fever: http://www.who.int/csr/bioriskreduct.../en/index.html

Interim Infection Control Recommendations for Care of Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Filovirus (Ebola, Marburg) Haemorrhagic Fever

March 2008

This document provides a summary of infection control recommendations when providing direct and non-direct care to patients with suspected or confirmed Filovirus haemorrhagic fever (HF), including Ebola or Marburg haemorrhagic fevers. These recommendations are interim and will be updated when additional information becomes available.

Download document

Full text
pdf, 282kb

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 04:33 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA: (KIBAALE)
********************************************
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: Sat 28 Jun 2012Source: Associated Press and Fox hews [edited]http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/07/28/ebola-virus-breaks-out-in-uganda-officials-sayEbola virus breaks out in Uganda, officials say--------------------------------------

KAMPALA: The deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in western Uganda this month, Ugandan health officials said on Saturday, ending weeks of speculation about the cause of a strange disease that had many people fleeing their homes. The officials and a World Health Organization representative told a news conference in Kampala Saturday [28 Jul 2012] that there is "an outbreak of Ebola" in Uganda. "Laboratory investigations done at the Uganda Virus Research Institute...have confirmed that the strange disease reported in Kibaale is indeed Ebola hemorrhagic fever," the Ugandan government and WHO said in joint statement.

Kibaale is a district in midwestern Uganda, where people in recent weeks have been troubled by a mysterious illness that seemed to have come from nowhere. Ugandan health officials had been stumped as well, and spent weeks conducting laboratory tests that were at first inconclusive. On Friday, Joaquim Saweka, the WHO representative in Uganda, told the Associated Press that investigators were "not so sure" it was Ebola, and a Ugandan health official dismissed the possibility of Ebola as merely a rumor. It appears firm evidence of Ebola was clinched overnight.Health officials told reporters in Kampala that the 14 dead were among 20 reported with the disease. Two of the infected have beenisolated for examination by researchers and health officials. A clinical officer and, days later, her 4-month-old baby died from the disease caused by the Ebola virus, officials said.

Officials urged Ugandans to be calm, saying a national emergency taskforce had been set up to stop the disease from spreading far and wide. There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, and in Uganda, where in 2000 the disease killed 224 people and left hundreds more traumatized, it resurrects terrible memories.Ebola, which manifests itself as a hemorrhagic fever, is highly infectious and kills quickly.
It was first reported in 1976 in Congo and is named for the river where it was recognised, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists don't know the natural reservoir of the virus, but they suspect the first victim in an Ebola outbreak gets infected through contact with an infected animal, such as a monkey.

The virus can be transmitted in several ways, including through direct contact with the blood of an infected person. During communal funerals, for example, when the bereaved come into contact with an Ebola victim, the virus can be contracted, officials said, warning against unnecessary contact with suspected cases of Ebola. In Kibaale, some villagers had started abandoning their homes in recent weeks to escape what they thought was an illness that had something to do with bad luck, because people were quickly falling ill and dying, and there was no immediate explanation, officials said.Officials said now that they've verified Ebola in the area, they can concentrate on controlling the disease. Ebola patients were being treated at the only major hospital in Kibaale, said Stephen Byaruhanga, the district's health secretary. "Being a strange disease, we were shocked to learn that it was Ebola," Byaruhanga said. "Our only hope is that in the past whenEbola broke out in other parts of Uganda it was controlled." The challenge, he said, was retaining the services of all the nurses and doctors who are being asked to risk their lives in order to look after the sick.

Officials also worry that other villagers suffering from other diseases might be afraid to visit the hospital for fear ofcatching Ebola, he said.--
Communicated by:Michael P. OwenResearch TechnicianU.S. Food and Drug AdministrationBellevue, WA USA<OWENMP@SEANET.COM>[As of Sat 28 Jul 2012 the number of fatalities has increase by one to 14, but the number cases remains the same. Although haemorrhage is not mentioned as a major factor in the disease the causative agent has been identified now as an ebolavirus. It has not yet been established whether this represents a re-emergence of Bundibugyo ebolavirus or another distinct type of ebolavirus (see: (Undiagnosed fatal disease - Uganda: (KI) 20120725.1214822). The precise identification of the virus remains to be determined. At present the outbreak appears to have been limited in extent and remains contained. Further information is awaited. - Mod.CP

http://www.promedmail.org/

</PRE>

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 05:30 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

Ebola breaks out in Kibaale

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Health workers walk out of an Ebola isolation ward at Bundibugyo Hospital In 2007.

Government has confirmed the outbreak of ebola diesease in Kibaale District. A team of experts from the Ministry of Health on Friday announced that the strange disease that hit different areas of the district early this week is ebola.
?Preliminary results of collected blood samples show symptoms of ebola outbreak in Kibaale with high viral infection,? said Dr Joseph Wamala a senior epideolomigst in the Ministry of Health.

According to the Ministry of Health, initial blood samples collected from the patients did not show positive results until other blood samples were picked on Thursday.
Many local radio stations have been reporting about a mysterious disease that has been claiming lives in the district.

Dr Wamala, who said he did not want to cause panic among the health personnel, insisted that the disease is communicable and needs infection control measures for management.
While meeting clinical and nursing officer at Kagadi Hospital Dr Wamala, said a team of health officers will be in the district until other admitted patients are treated.

The disease reported in Nyanswiga Village in Nyamarunda Sub-county has killed 13 family members and a clinical officer in Kagadi Hospital who was attending to the patients.
The Ministry of Health has undertaken precautionary measures by creating strict isolation centres and health workers are expected to wear protective gear at all times.

A team of health officials from World Health Organisation, Centers for Disease Control, Mulago and Laco hospitals, mainly those who handle Ebola outbreaks has already camped in Kibaale District.



However, panic has gripped residents of Kagadi Town who fear for their lives as others have started migrating from the neighbouring villages where the disease broke out.

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Nation...a/-/index.html

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 05:36 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

14 Killed in Uganda Ebola Outbreak

http://www.voanews.com/content/ugand...4/1448484.html

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 05:49 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

High alert as Ebola outbreak kills 14
Officials from WHO putting on Ebola Protective gears at Kagadi Hospital.

By RONALD TUSIIME AND AGATHA AYEBAZIBWE
Posted Saturday, July 28 2012 at 23:30Ugandan and international health experts are fighting an outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease in Kibaale district, western Uganda.

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The disease reported in Nyanswiga village, Nyamarunda sub-county has killed 14 family members and a clinical officer at Kagadi Hospital who initially attended to the patients.

According to Uganda?s Health ministry, 20 cases have so far been recorded. Of these, 14 had been confirmed dead by Saturday.

Three samples taken from the dead confirmed they succumbed to Ebola attack.

The first confirmed case of survivor was a woman, 30, who was admitted on July 23, 2012, with fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain. 


?Her condition is fairly stable,? said the ministry of Health in a statement.

According to the Health ministry, a national taskforce to be based at Mulago National Referral Hospital has been activated.

Kibaale and neighbouring districts have been instructed to activate their district taskforces to coordinate the management of the outbreak.

US experts

Also a team of experts from US Centre for Disease Control is already on the ground in Kibaale supporting the response.

Many local radio stations have been reporting about a mysterious disease that has been claiming lives in the district since the beginning of July.

The ministry of Health has issued precautionary measures by creating strict isolation centres and nurses have been intructed to put on protective gear at all times.

A team of health officials from World Health Organisation has joined the US team based at Mulago and Laco hospitals to contain the Ebola outbreak in Kibaale district.

Residents surrounding Kagadi town that was the source of the outbreak have started to migrate to other areas for fear of contracting the disease.

?We have to move to safer places because we can easily get infected by this disease here,? said Omuhereza Kugonza in Nyamarunda sub-county.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/High+alert+as+Ebola+outbreak+kills+14++/-/1056/1465798/-/i6ex7tz/-/index.html

**alert** · July 28, 2012, 07:09 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

Originally posted by Treyfish View Post

Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens

. At this time, the cases appear to be centered in Nyamarunda Sub County, Kibaale district, although one suspected victim is reported to have traveled to Kampala for treatment at Mulago Hospital where he subsequently died on July 22, 2012.[/B]

http://kampala.usembassy.gov/emergency_07282012.html

Intersting report. There are really two kinds of "suspect" cases in a VHF outbreak. The first kind is a person with a fever, some other symptoms, and a good exposure history (such as contact with a confirmed case). The second kind is an unexplained, severe (or fatal) illness with no real contact history. The first kind are far more likely than the second kind to actually be infected. There are a lot of other infectious diseases in Uganda that could be mistaken for Ebola in individual cases, including malaria, typhoid, and even cholera.

The passage above does not indicate exactly what this case's exposure history is, nor precisely what his symptoms were (other than the fatal outcome), so it is diffficult to judge the likelihood that he was actually infected with Ebola. If he was, though, it would be the first confirmed case in Kampala EVER, and might pose serious public health risk.

**Treyfish** · July 28, 2012, 08:24 PM

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 14 deaths including Healthcare worker in Kibaale out of 20 total suspected cases

Video-Published on Jul 27, 2012 by ntvuganda
http://www.ntvuganda.co.ug/
Ministry of Health officials continue with the struggle to get to the root cause of a strange disease that has claimed 17 lives in the districts of Kagadi and Kibaale, a further two people have been admitted to hospital showing signs of the same symptoms as for those who have so far died. The strange disease which began to infect the districts last june has mostly claimed members of the same family. This has forced some residents to run away from their homes in fear for that they too may contract the disease.

Announcement

Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, all monitoring completed, outbreak declared over

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