Re: Uganda: Hemorrhagic fever outbreak- 38 dead, 91 ill- officials say pneumonic plague or pneumonia
The statement that all the dead are adult men is highly unusual. Most contagious diseases would affect men and women equally. There was a reference in two different articles (including the Denmark release above) to alcohol consumption; adult men do tend to consume more alcohol than women or children would (but animals likely would not; perhaps that inference was incorrect?). Perhpas whatever is causing this is spread through contaminated alcohol? Uganda has had problems with contaminated alcohol before:
The cases do appear slightly more scattered than an H2H spread would produce, and the rate of cases may have slowed or stopped (or reporting may just have).
It is difficult to imagine that pneumonia is involved, without any mention of cough, breathlessness, chest pain, etc.; perhaps the word "pneumonia" is an errant translation of "plague".
It does appear that bacteria may be involved in this, as antibiotics seem to help (especially according to the comments by the EAFR moderator).
If the case in the Kalongo HCW who was vomitted on has been discarded, a wide variety of poisonings might also be suspect.
The statement that all the dead are adult men is highly unusual. Most contagious diseases would affect men and women equally. There was a reference in two different articles (including the Denmark release above) to alcohol consumption; adult men do tend to consume more alcohol than women or children would (but animals likely would not; perhaps that inference was incorrect?). Perhpas whatever is causing this is spread through contaminated alcohol? Uganda has had problems with contaminated alcohol before:
The cases do appear slightly more scattered than an H2H spread would produce, and the rate of cases may have slowed or stopped (or reporting may just have).
It is difficult to imagine that pneumonia is involved, without any mention of cough, breathlessness, chest pain, etc.; perhaps the word "pneumonia" is an errant translation of "plague".
It does appear that bacteria may be involved in this, as antibiotics seem to help (especially according to the comments by the EAFR moderator).
If the case in the Kalongo HCW who was vomitted on has been discarded, a wide variety of poisonings might also be suspect.
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