Ebola in Uganda: November 30 - December 17, 2007

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Ebola epidemic spreads to three Ugandan districts - 19 dead

Dec 4, 2007, 17:12 GMT
<SCRIPT language=javascript src="http://www.monstersandcritics.com/javascript/pagebreak.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=javascript></SCRIPT>Kampala - The Ugandan government said Tuesday that the Ebola epidemic currently hitting the west of the country has spread to three districts, leaving 19 of the 75 confirmed cases dead.
The disease has spread from the district of Bundibugyo on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the districts of Kabarole and Mbarara further inside Uganda, a special government document on the disease said.
Uganda is calling for the mobilization of both local and external resources to fight the spread of the disease, but says that the availability of resources and the porous nature of the DRC border is constraining its efforts to control the spread of the disease.
The latest outbreak of the fast-spreading killer disease is the second in Uganda since 2000 when Ebola hit the northern region of the country, killing 224 people out of 425 infected.
Authorities have put the western districts of the country on high alert and the government has directed the public to report to health authorities suspected cases with symptoms including sudden very high fever, diarrhea, vomiting, red eyes and measles-like rashes.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/..._spreads_to_three_Ugandan_districts_-_19_dead

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Uganda Ebola death toll hits 19



by Vincent Mayanja
KAMPALA, Dec 4, 2007 (AFP) - The dreaded Ebola virus has killed 19 people in western Uganda since September, officials said Tuesday, with new outbreaks of linked diseases surfacing in other parts of the country.
Hours after the 19th Ebola patient died in Bundibugyo district, State Health Emmanuel Otaala highlighted fears of extremely contagious cholera, plague, menengitis and hepatitis outbreaks.
"As we are trying to contain Ebola, we came across four other outbreaks," Otaala told reporters.
The health ministry reported cholera in western Hoima and northeastern Nebbi districts; plague in Nebbi; menengitis in Nebbi and Arua district and hepatitis in northern Kitgum district. Ebola killed at least 170 people in Uganda in 2000.
"We are encouraging people to wash their hands, avoid shaking hands, bury the dead with caution and avoid sex because sexual fluids can also spread diseases," he explained.
No figures were given on the new outbreak, except for plague that has infected some 25 people, mainly women.
Health experts fear that Ebola may have spread unnoticed in the mounting medical chaos, its rubberstamp haemmorhaging obscured by companion ailments, only to emerge when cases reported in hospitals.
Epidemiologists are concentrating on western Uganda -- near the frontier with Democratic Republic of Congo -- where a nurse died Tuesday, bringing the Ebola toll to 19 while 64 others infected.
Worried about possible contamination in hospitals, some patients have hidden, complicating the drive to isolate cases, said Samuel Kazinga, district commissioner for Bundibugyo, epicentre of the new outbreak.
"The Congolese have closed their border at Busunga and installed custom officers, who are not allowing movement of people between the two nations," he added.
Blood and tissues samples from two patients who died in neighbouring Port Portale district and southern Mbarara region are at Uganda's Virus Research Institute awaiting screening.
Alarmed that eight medics had been isolated with Ebola symptoms, the health ministry said it was sending more plastic aprons, respirator masks, latex gloves and goggles to the affected district.
Five experts from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that identified the new Ebola virus, are expected in Uganda on Tuesday to carry out tests.
CDC Special Pathogens Branch chief Thomas Ksiazek said it was not yet clear whether the Ebola virus in the current outbreak was more or less deadly than the four previously detected.
Spread primarily by body secrection, mainly blood, Ebola is fatal in up to 90 percent of its cases, mostly killing its victims from both external and internal haemorrhages.
Health authorities say that virus erupted in September but was only identified last week after being obscured by other ailments.
The rare disease killed at least 170 people in northern Uganda in 2000, with experts blaming poor sanitation and hygiene.
The Ebola virus was first detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan in 1976. There have also been outbreaks in Ivory Coast and Gabon.
Experts have said the disease is usually containable because it kills victims faster that it can spread to new ones. vm-bkb/tw

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/STED-79KPKG?OpenDocument

Treyfish · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Ebola in Bundibugyo: Tues night Report

The District Task Force responding to the Ebola crisis meets every evening for several hours, and today I went with Scott. Mostly because I felt so wiped out by the day in general and wanted to stick with him, as well as experience the politics and planning side of the epidemic. About two dozen people, mostly men, mostly Ugandans except us, MSF, and two Kenyan epidemiologists, gathered in a circle of chairs outside the RDC?s office. Bottom line: there are a slew of competent and motivated people at work. The RDC himself serves as chair, and he?s an impressively large and voluminous presence, practical and authoritative, the kind of person you want in charge. The facts Cumulative cases as of 5 pm on Tuesday: 90

cumulative deaths: 19
New admissions: 7; that includes 3 in Kikyo and 4 in Bundibugyo
Current admissions: 23 in Bundi, and I think 14 or 15 in Kikyo
Positive lab samples: 9, but that will change tomorrow, since there are about 15 samples waiting to be sent on the flight, and the CDC has landed and will be operational with their biohazard level 4 virology lab in Entebbe tomorrow.
Identified contacts being followed: 327 (which does not include Scott or me, though the epidemiologist told us to follow ourselves because we should be considered contacts)
Subcounties from which suspected cases have originated: 5 (Kasitu 50, Bubukwanga 18, Bundibugyo Town Council 10, Busaru 4, Harugale 3, others unknown). Note that the case may be counted as arising from a subcounty because the patient?s home is there even if the contact was made elsewhere . . .

THE HEROS:
We chatted prior to the meeting with some of the doctors and others involved. Dr. Yoti was (as he put it) a young fresh-from-school doctor in the 2000 Gulu Ebola epidemic, and when he survived that he decided to study Infectious Disease as a specialty in South Africa, and now works tirelessly all over Uganda under the auspices of the WHO tracing epidemics and disasters and trying to save lives. I found him clinically solid, thoughtful, and humane, and the kind of guy I?d hope to have in charge of any patient I cared about. Rosa, the MSF Medical Coordinator, a nurse with the experience of the 2007 Congo epidemic and the down-to-tacks hard work and confidence to pull off the isolation and care of patients. She?s spent several days now setting up the isolation wards, arranging for food, water, triage, training teams to man an ambulance to pull in suspected cases safely and another team to safely bury those that die, teaching attendants to protect themselves, as well as managing the patients. Dr. Ann (MSF) and Dr. Thomas (WHO) are carefully tracking the numbers. There are umpteen other people pitching in in every way they can.
:tiphat: www.paradoxuganda.blogspot.com

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Monday, Dec. 03, 2007
Fears of a New Ebola Outbreak

By Alexis Okeowo/Kampala

When the Ebola virus resurfaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year, health officials hoped to contain the outbreak to the east of the central African country, keeping it to a densely forested area accessible only through dirt roads and tiny villages. That epidemic, which was at its height earlier in the fall, saw 187 people killed and 267 more infected. But the extremely contagious disease, which has a 90% death rate, has now spread to neighboring Uganda, where a new strain of the virus has already killed 19 since September. Now, as the Ebola strain continues to sweep western Uganda, the question is how ? and if ? the virus can be stopped in time to prevent more mass deaths.
"We are doing everything possible to stop the spread," says Dr. Sam Zaramba, Uganda's top health official. For weeks, Uganda's health ministry released statements about a "mysterious" virus plaguing Bundibugyo, a western region on the border with the Congo. Uganda experienced an outbreak of the Marburg virus ? a rare-Ebola like hemorrhagic fever ? this summer, raising speculation that the disease had returned. Ebola was last in Uganda in 2000, when 425 people were infected, and over half, including a doctor, died.
But it was only last week that health authorities identified the disease as the Ebola virus after a three-month delay. The lack of rural labs to test phantom viruses resulted in the staggering delay in diagnosis. Ebola symptoms are also vague, and health officials did not suspect the virus was present until it hit its epidemic stride. Meanwhile, local populations have been burying deceased but infected relatives without protection. Usually, infected corpses are covered in plastic before they are buried.
To make matters worse, medical staff members fled treatment centers last week after six health workers were infected with the virus. Ebola is contracted through body fluids, particularly blood, putting at risk health workers who are working in centers without protective gear and proper sanitation. Zaramba says, however, that the workers were likely exposed in the time gap before the virus was correctly classified.
There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola, which has symptoms of nausea, fever and muscle pain. Humans, chimpanzees and gorillas usually die of shock when the virus attacks capillaries and blood vessel linings, draining the body of blood in a vampire-like manner. The new Ugandan strain kills patients by inducing high fever, without much loss of blood, according to Dr. Sam Okware, head of Uganda's national hemorrhagic fever task force.
The conventional wisdom was that Ebola is containable because it kills its victims faster than it can find new ones. However, conditions on the ground are now proving otherwise. While 61 cases have been identified, Zaramba says the health ministry is having difficulty detecting more cases or identifying people with whom patients had contact. And as of the weekend, the disease had spread to three new zones in Bundibugyo district. Local officials speaking on the condition of anonymity say that the death toll is almost twice that reported.
However, says Zaramba: "We believe this Ebola outbreak is not as serious as the strain we had in 2000." Still, he says, "we cannot predict what will happen." Rwanda, Uganda's southern neighbor, announced Saturday it was tightening health border controls to prevent the disease from spreading south. A team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will arrive in Uganda this week for further investigation and to advise on further containment of the disease.
Find this article at:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1690210,00.html

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12040703/Ebola_Uganda_Spread_Increase.html

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Ebola cases go up to 84, 18 confirmed dead

Publication date: Tuesday, 4th December, 2007
<TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>

</TD><TR><TD>Bundibugyo Hospital matron Peluce Tabiita admitted in the same hospital after she was suspected to have contracted Ebola, which is ravaging the western region
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
By Vision Reporters

THE number of suspected Ebola infections has increased from 62 to 84, according to the Ministry of Health.
Of these, 18 have died. This does not include the two deaths in Kabarole and Mbarara, where Ebola had not been confirmed.

It is also not clear if the number includes Maipeni Muliwabyo, a prominent businessman who succumbed to the disease on Monday night at Bundibugyo Hospital.

Briefing the press at the Media Centre yesterday, state minister for health Dr. Emmanuel Otaala said only nine cases had been confirmed to be Ebola. Of the remaining 75 cases, 74 are in Bundibugyo while one is at Mulago Hospital. The patient at Mulago is a doctor from Bundibugyo who was immediately put in isolation.

The minister explained that the porous nature of the Uganda-Congolese border was complicating the control of the epidemic, as people at the other side could not be reached for sensitisation.
He warned the public against the exchange of body fluids, including sex. ?If you are a suspect or you have been in contact with an infected person, refrain from sexual intercourse because contact with vaginal fluids and semen can cause infection.?

Other precautionary measures, he said, included avoiding handshakes, using soap and jik to wash hands after contact with a suspected victim, burying the dead immediately and avoiding food at funerals.

Otaala explained that the ministry took long to announce the disease, which first struck in August, because the initial tests done by the Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta, US, turned out to be negative.
Five blood samples were sent first, which tested negative. Another 20 samples were sent later, eight of which were found positive for Ebola. He said the confirmation was received on November 29 and the ministry immediately made it public.

He dismissed claims that the Government and the development partners had concealed the information so that CHOGM could take place. He said it was inconceivable that the US and the donors would have conspired with Uganda to keep silent about the Ebola outbreak.

During the press briefing, Dr. Sam Zaramba said people?s movements in the affected districts would not be restricted. The ministry had set up monitoring teams to follow up reports of suspects, he added. They were also working with UTODA to avoid overcrowding in public passenger vehicles.

UNICEF has donated emergency supplies worth sh860m to deal with the epidemic. They include emergency kits for 10,000 persons for three months at isolation centres.

According to UNICEF resident representative, Keith McKenzie, his organisation has given another sh230m to Bundibugyo district, sh49m of which will be used as incentives to the staff handling the victims. Later in the afternoon, Otaala briefed Parliament about the Ebola outbreak.

He said his ministry urgently needed sh6b to handle the epidemic. The MPs asked the Government to find the funds urgently, adding that health workers and other volunteers may run away from the affected areas.

Independent MP Johnson Malinga suggested that Parliament should approve the Ebola budget with the urgency it approved the CHOGM budget.
Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi informed Parliament that he and the Minister of Health met with President Yoweri Museveni over the epidemic to look for solutions.

Ruth Nankabirwa, state minister for defence, said the army had deployed UPDF health workers and health educators to help in the management of Ebola.

Meanwhile, the Canadian consulate has warned its citizens against travelling to Bundibugyo. ?Be aware of this potentially fatal disease,? the consulate wrote in an email. ?Travel to the district should be avoided until the medical authorities confirm that it is safe so to do.?

Symptoms to look for, it cautioned, were very high fever, diarrhoea and vomiting associated with red eyes and a measles-like rash.

Anne Mugisa, Cyprian Musoke, John Odyek, Conan Businge and John Thawite

This article can be found on-line at: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/600484

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=480 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=headline1 colSpan=2>How districts are handling Ebola cases</TD></TR><TR><TD>Tuesday, 4th December, 2007</TD><TD align=right><TABLE style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse"><TBODY><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle">

</TD><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle">E-mail article</TD><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle"> </TD><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle">

</TD><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle">Print article</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Kabarole
Officials at Buhinga Referral Hospital in Fort Portal have said they will no longer admit Ebola cases for fear of infecting other patients.

?The hospital is a centre for so many people and it is located in the middle of the town?, said the superintendent, Dr.Abdallah Shabban. ?We have so far received only one patient who was bleeding from the nose. The person was treated and taken back home.?

Kichwamba Health Centre III, about 10km from Kabarole town on the road to Bundibugyo, will be the reception centre for suspected Ebola cases, he announced. It was at a distance from the town and would reduce the risk of infection, he explained. Meanwhile, Fort Portal authorities met hotel, restaurant and lodge managers, asking them to take extra precautions. The principal health inspector, Gilbert Mbeire, said people should avoid using towels to dry their hands because they can easily spread the virus. Hotel operators were requested to provide running water and use disinfectants such as jik to wash bed sheets and clothes.
Hoima
Hoima district authorities were yesterday thrown into a panic over a suspected Ebola case, prompting them to stop any visitors from Bundibugyo and Kabarole districts.
In a statement, the authorities warned residents against travelling to the two districts until the situation normalised.
It was signed by superintendent Dr. Emmanuel Moro of the Hoima referral hospital, who also heads the newly-formed district surveillance committee.

The committee, charged with detecting any suspected cases, is part of a 15-man Ebola taskforce formed during an impromptu meeting, convened yesterday by the Hoima RDC Martha Asiimwe to respond to any possible outbreak. Asiimwe told a hastily called meeting that fear had spread at Tontema village in Kyangwali sub-county after one of the residents developed signs of the haemorrhage fever.
?We have assigned the acting district health officer, Dr. Joseph Ruyonga, and another medical officer to monitor the suspected case and recommend appropriate measures,? she said.
The meeting opposed a suggestion to refer the case to Hoima Hospital, saying it was more effective to treat him in an isolation centre.
Kyangwali sub-county, where the case was reported, hosts Kyangwali resettlement camp, which has over 7,000 Sudanese, Congolese and Rwandan refugees.

It is also very close to Kingfisher oil site, one of the biggest oil wells managed by the Heritage Oil and Gas Company.
The Hoima RDC said the ministries of energy and health had contacted both Heritage and Tullow oil companies, which are operating in the area, to prepare for a sensitisation campaign among their workers.

?A team of the Ministry of Health technical staff is going to beef up our district staff so that we carry out an effective campaign among the oil workers as quickly as possible,? Asiimwe said.

Kasese

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has suspended its operations in Kasese following the Ebola outbreak in the Rwenzori region. According to a statement issued by the WWF office in Kasese, the organisation will only resume work when the epidemic is over.
Kasese secretary for environment, Sylevano Mulhondi, described the suspension as unfortunate. WWF had been helping the region in conserving the environment.
Their departure means that the recently launched tree planting campaign would hit a snag, he noted.
WWF had been operating in the districts neighbouring Mt. Rwenzori National Park, which include Kasese, Kabarole and Bundibugyo, and across the border in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is the second organisation to leave the area. Last week, Save the Children Uganda suspended its activities in Bundibugyo and Kasese, including the regional education day celebration.
Save the Children Uganda manager for Kasese district, Kanku Francis, on Sunday said the celebrations were cancelled due to the Ebola outbreak.

Meanwhile, Kasese district has put in place measures to stop the spread of the virus. A 25-member task force has been appointed, chaired by the Kasese Resident District Commissioner, Capt. James Mwesigye. The committee, as a first move, banned the selling and drinking of malwa in Kasese.

According to health expert, sharing the straw could spread the virus. All public places and bars selling malwa have been closed.
The committee also stopped the transport of smoked fish, commonly known as Bikayabu, from Ntoroko in Bundibugyo to Kasese and some parts of Congo.
The Kasese district vice-chairperson, Joshua Masereka, said the business could contribute to the escalation of the disease.
The committee also resolved to increase the salaries of medical workers, drivers and the burial team, deployed in the isolation centres, to sh75,000 per day.

Kibaale

The Kibaale district local government has banned all inter-district transactions with Bundibugyo, as well as all businesses at the shores of Lake Albert, in an effort to stop the spread of Ebola to Kibaale.
Addressing journalists at the district headquarters on Monday evening, the director of district health services, Dr. Dan Kyamanywa, announced that no business activities would be allowed at Ndaiga, Kabukanga and Kitebere landing sites in Kibaale district.

The outbreak in Bundibugyo could easily affect Kibaale due to the daily movements along Lake Albert, he noted. ?Given the nature of business taking place on Lake Albert, such as fishing and the movement of passengers from Congo and Bundibugyo, we have no choice but to limit the movement of people on the landing sites on Lake Albert,? Kyamanywa said.
The affected landing sites are Kabukanga, Kitebere, Ndaiga, Kamina, Rwebigongoro, Nyamasoga. Other small fishing villages are also affected.

?If Ebola hits Kibaale, dealing with it will be very difficult given the inadequate staffing we have. Therefore, we must use all means at our disposal to avert the spread of the epidemic to our area,? Kyamanywa said.

He directed the beach management units and the Police to park all the boats at the landing sites to avoid unnecessary movements until further notice.
Kibaale district shares part of its border with Bundibugyo district, where the Ebola epidemic has claimed over 18 lives.

Compiled by Fred Kayizzi, Bizimungu Kisakye, Ismael Kasooha and Tusiime Colombus
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http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/600487

mordan · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Dr. Jonah Kule died this evening, Tuesday 4 December, at Mulago Hospital.
http://www.paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/

Treyfish · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=480 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=headline1 colSpan=2></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD align=right><TABLE style="MARGIN-LEFT: auto; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse"><TBODY><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle"></TD><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle"></TD><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle"></TD><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle"></TD><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Ebola in Uganda, DRC make arrangements
Ituri | 04 Dec 2007 at 12:33:21

In Bunia, in Ituri, a crisis committee was set up to prevent any spread to the Democratic Republic of Congo Ebola cases that have expressed to the west of Uganda. Resource materials as a basis for organizing the response are available, according to the medical inspector of the district of Ituri, reports radiookapi.net

Dr. Lumumba Honoré explains the strategies adopted to prevent the spread in the DRC: "We are preparing the response. We will protect our people. You see the border with Uganda, to two meters of our country. And people will attend. The inhabitants of Boga go to Uganda and vice versa. The first is the protection of our medical staff who would take care of cases that come from Uganda or to be infected would be on our side. We 'jackets, helmets, boots, aprons and all other arrangements. "

According to the doctor, this equipment can be deployed immediately to the border, particularly in the area of health Boga and those along the Semliki River. The areas of health Geti and Tchomia are also included, as well as the area of health Eringeti at the border with North Kivu.

Contacted, the assistant district commissioner in charge of the Economy and Finance said that arrangements are under study to consider here 48 hours, the need to close the border between the DRC and Uganda.

As a reminder, this crisis committee is composed of the medical inspection District Health, the local office of the World Health Organization and international NGOs operating in the region such as Medecins Sans frontières-Suisse, Memisa and Medair.
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http://www.radiookapi.net/index.php?i=53&a=15829

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Four Epidemics Hit Country

The Monitor (Kampala)

NEWS
5 December 2007 </B>
Posted to the web 4 December 2007

By Tabu Butagira & Emmanuel Gyezaho
Kampala

AS the country grapples with the deadly Ebola outbreak in western Uganda, medics are struggling to contain a rising spate of meningitis and bubonic plague in West Nile, cholera in Hoima and Buliisa, and yellow fever in the northern district of Kitgum.

The Minister of State for Primary Healthcare, Dr Emmanuel Otaala, announced the simultaneous contagions during a press conference in Kampala yesterday moments before he rushed to Parliament - where he outlined the contingency plans put in place by the government to scuttle the further spread of the highly communicable Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Parliament heard that Nebbi District is facing the brunt of a plague outbreak, while suspected cases of meningococcal meningitis have been reported in Arua District.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=right><SCRIPT language=JavaScript> GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Other_Inset");</SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gampad/ads?correlator=1196807246675&output=json_html&callback=_GA_googleAdEngine.setAdContentsBySlotForSync&impl=s&prev_afc=0&client=ca-pub-2420009840005975&slotname=AllAfrica_Other_Inset&page_slots=AllAfrica_Other_BannerBottom%2CAllAfrica_Other_BannerMid%2CAllAfrica_Other_Inset%2CAllAfrica_Other_Leaderboard%2CAllAfrica_Other_LeftA%2CAllAfrica_Other_LeftB%2CAllAfrica_Other_RightA%2CAllAfrica_Other_RightB%2CAllAfrica_Other_RightC&cust_params=language%3Denglish%26Topics%3Dhealth%26Countries%3Deastafrica%252Cuganda&cookie=ID%3D12eb1897ba9e5266%3AT%3D1196690060%3AS%3DALNI_MYcPugH4NRq_bqTduMuz7P2dTJ5Fw&ga_vid=836489085.1196690017&ga_sid=1196807237&ga_hid=209985525&ga_fc=true&url=http%3A%2F%2Fallafrica.com%2Fstories%2Fprintable%2F200712041101.html&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fallafrica.com%2Fstories%2F200712041101.html&lmt=1196803605&dt=1196807247956&cc=97&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=770&u_aw=1280&u_cd=32&u_tz=-300&u_his=0&u_java=true&u_nplug=0&u_nmime=0"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT type=text/javascript></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT>

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Dr Otaala stunned the House when he said suspected cases of hepatitis had been recorded in Kitgum District on top of the yellow fever, adding that "my ministry is doing everything it can to handle the situations."

In a follow up interview, Mr Patrick Anguzu, the Arua District health officer said the re-emergence of meningoccocal meningitis that has been on a low key since July 10, had killed 27 people out of 255 registered cases.

"The most affected areas are Arivu Subcounty in Vurra County and parts of Upper Madi (constituency)," Mr Anguzu said on phone yesterday.

Dr Sam Zaramba, the director general of health services, had earlier said medics in West Nile region had been put on high alert over the meningitis epidemic, which claimed at least 65 lives among over 2, 000 infected persons when the disease struck in December 2006 to March this year.

At the time, the government with support from the World Health Organisation and MSF - France, undertook partial mass vaccinations in Arua, Koboko, Yumbe, Moyo and Nebbi districts, but this time round, it is counties like Vurra in Arua, which were not covered during the immunization that are registering the renewed infections.

At the press conference, Dr Otaala attributed the incessant occurrence of plague in Nebbi along the frontier line with the DR Congo, to the primitive culture of the indigenous people "where men sleep on beds while women sleep on the floor."
"The people mainly affected are women because in that district (Nebbi), women only come up on the bed (for sex)," Dr Otaala said, at the Media Centre in Kampala.

"The flea (that causes plague) can only jump up to six inches (high) and (that means) if everybody was sleeping on a bed, there would be no plague in this country," Dr Zaramba said in a separate interview.

Plague is usually transmitted to humans through a bite of a flea from an infected rodent host, mainly rats and squirrels and occasionally through handling of infected animals, according to online medical publications.

Dr Zaramba said the ministry had dispatched medics to investigate reports of the plague outbreak in Nebbi, amid reports that the disease has reportedly affected between 25-30 residents.

Referring to the Nebbi incidences, Dr Zaramba added; "It is disheartening to see that a section in Uganda's society can let women sleep on the floor while men sleep on beds". Common symptoms of plague include; high fever, chills, headache, bulged armpit lymph nodes and swollen glands.

Dr Zaramba said the ministry had also sent personnel to Kitgum in the Acholi Sub region to establish if the suspected contagion there is truly yellow fever or hepatitis as is being suspected. The cholera cases so far registered in Hoima District are among fishermen in Butiaba; at Wanseko landing site in Buliisa and Panyimur in Nebbi.

In his statement to Parliament on Ebola, Dr Otaala said his ministry was in dire need of Shs6 billion to contain the disease. But MPs questioned the government's responsiveness to epidemics outbreak, with speaker after speaker querying why the government did not announce the outbreak of Ebola on August 20 when its first case was reported.

"When we wanted money for Chogm, we passed it without problems," said Kapelebyong MP Johnson Malinga. "Now here is a minister lamenting that they want Shs6 billion." "We need urgent financial resources," said Bundibudyo MP Jane Babiha. "Volunteers are withdrawing because they haven't been paid. This is a life and death matter. We want to see money in the districts as soon as possible."
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http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200712041101.html

Treyfish · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Uganda: Kibaale Cuts Off Links With Bundibugyo Over Ebola

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</TD><TD align=middle>http://www.monitor.co.ug/</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>

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The Monitor (Kampala)
5 December 2007
Posted to the web 4 December 2007
Francis Mugerwa

AUTHORITIES in Kibaale District have barred residents from going to neighbouring Ebola infested Bundibugyo District.
This was disclosed by the Kibaale Resident District Commissioner, Hajji Ali Mutawe, on Tuesday.

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"We have stopped residents from traveling to Bundibugyo where they may contract Ebola," Mr Mutawe said.
He said the directive is a precautionary measure aimed at protecting locals from being infected by the viral disease.
Ebola is a highly contagious disease that has so far cliamed the lives of over 18 people though other independent sources estimate the number to be higher.
Kibaale residents regularly travel to the affected area mainly for business. The two districts border Lake Albert.
The fishermen on the landing sites of Kitebere, Kabukanga, Ndaiga move across the lake and sell their fish in Bundibugyo District.
Ntoroko l anding site which is located in Bundibugyo, is less than 20 kilometres from Kitebere village.
The District Director for Health Services, Dr Dan Kyamanywa, said medics worry that if residents move uncontrolled to and from the affected district, there are chances of contracting the epidemic that could wreck havoc in the district.
"For preventative purposes, we do not want any boat to move from our landing site to Bundibugyo. We have also stopped boats coming from Bundibugyo ," Dr Kyamanywa said.
Hajji Mutawe said the directive is effective till the situation normalises. "We shall lift the ban if the disease is controlled," Mr Mutawe said.
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Ebola is transmitted by a virus. It causes hemorrhagic fever that is often fatal to humans.
There is no carrier state because the natural reservoir of the virus is unknown and the manner in which the v irus first appears in a human at the start of an outbreak has not been determined.
However, researchers say the first people become infected through contact with an infected person.:tiphat: http://allafrica.com/stories/200712041140.html

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA (05): (BUNDIBUGYO)
****************************************************
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: Tue 4 Dec 2007
Source: allAfrica.com, New Vision (Kampala) [edited]
<http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200712040002.html>

Ebola Strikes More Nurses
----------------------------------
A 33-year-old man from Kyenjojo district, who had been admitted at
Virika Hospital in Fort Portal with suspected Ebola, died yesterday
afternoon [3 Dec 2007]. If confirmed, his demise would bring to 17
the number of people who have died since the outbreak of the epidemic
in August [2007]. The team that visited Bundibugyo Hospital yesterday
also learnt that 4 more medical workers were suspected to be
infected. They were among the 9 patients treated at one of the 2
isolation units in the hospital. All of them were health workers,
including the matron and a nursing assistant of the UPDF [Uganda
People's Defence Force].

The unit, formerly an anti-natal ward, seen by a New Vision team, was
poorly equipped and understaffed. There was only one male nurse, who
was wearing gloves and a mask, but no protective over-all. The doors
were not locked and there was no sign that this was an isolation
ward. About 5 attendants walked in and out, some were wearing either
gloves or masks, while others were not protected at all. One
attendant, dressed in white, was touching a patient with her bare
hands, as if she was not aware of the danger. No doctors were seen at
the hospital. The superintendent was still admitted in a private wing
of the hospital. His condition was said to have improved.

Though foreign experts were reported to have come in to help with the
treatment, none were seen by The New Vision team at Bundibugyo
Hospital. Contrary to findings by The New Vision, the Ministry of
Health said only 6 new cases of Ebola had been reported over the last
week, including one health worker. "All the other 6 health care
workers who had been put under quarantine because of Ebola-related
complaints are still under observation," said a statement by Dr. Sam
Zaramba, the Director General of Health Services.

According to Zaramba, experts from the World Health Organisation,
Medecins sans Frontieres and the Centres for Disease Control had
arrived in the country to help with laboratory diagnosis, case
research and management. A permanent laboratory will be set up this
week at the Uganda Virus Research Institute Entebbe to speed up the
diagnosis of Ebola and other viral haemorrhagic fevers, while
equipment for the laboratory is expected to arrive today [4 Dec
2007], the statement added. Currently, samples have to be taken to
South Africa or the Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta, USA.

Meanwhile, the UPDF has deployed a team of medical officers and
health educators to Bundibugyo. They will assist in the management of
Ebola patients and sensitising the public. UPDF 2nd Division
spokesperson, Lt. Tabaro Kiconco, said more personnel from the UPDF
Medical Department would be deployed in Bundibugyo today, while
emergency supplies would be delivered to Kabarole.

No new cases have been reported in Kabarole. So far, 2 patients with
Ebola symptoms have been admitted in Buhinga Hospital in Fort-Portal,
of which one died.

Following the Ebola outbreak, the 5 districts of the Rwenzori region
have postponed their joint education week celebrations, which were
slated to start today in Kasese. Other reports from Bundibugyo say
elders have resorted to consulting their oracles and sacrificing to
their ancestors to appease the gods.

[Byline: Anne Mugisa, Conan Businge, Matthias Mugisha, Bizimungu
Kisakye, John Nzinjah and John Thawite]

--
Communicated by:
Coulibaly Sidi
<sidi_couly@yahoo.ca>

[The number of fatalities in the outbreak has increased by one and
now stands at 17. Otherwise the overall situation remains confused
and the arrival of skilled medical support and diagnostic facilities
is still awaited. - Mod.CP]

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12040704/Ebola_Kampala.html

sharon sanders · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

mordan said:
Dr. Jonah Kule died this evening, Tuesday 4 December, at Mulago Hospital.
http://www.paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/

Thank you, everyone, for the research and work on this important issue.

HenryN · Dec 4, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Bundibugyo Nurses Strike

The Monitor (Kampala)

NEWS
4 December 2007 </B>
Posted to the web 4 December 2007

By Tabu Butagira, Joseph Mugisha, and Emmanuel Gyezaho
Kampala/Bundibugyo

HEALTH workers handling Ebola patients in Bundibugyo temporarily abandoned duty yesterday morning over delayed payment of their risk allowances and only resumed work after local leaders cleared the overdue bills in the afternoon.
Citing eight of their colleagues who have since contracted the disease while on duty, one health worker said their condition of work was precarious and it was "inhumane" for government officials to hold back "our" little pay.

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"For us, no payment of our risk allowance, no work from today onwards," one of the disgruntled nurses said.
Bundibudyo MP Jane Alisemera sounded alarm bells yesterday in Parliament urging the government to "urgently find financial resources" because "volunteers are withdrawing due to none payments."
"They cannot continue working because they are operating under dangerous circumstances."
Bundibugyo RDC, Samuel Kazinga who heads the local Ebola taskforce in the district, downplayed the morning hitch that sparked a wave of panic among district officials, saying the complainants only "demanded" their pay.
"It is one thing to demand and another to strike but we have now paid part of the money they were demanding," said Mr Kazinga, who had earlier attributed the pay to bureaucratic delays in processing payment.
Daily Monitor has learnt that officials of the district Ebola Taskforce were paying doctors a daily risk allowance of Sh30, 000 while nursing officers and other support staff were getting Sh20, 000 and Sh10, 000 respectively.
In Kampala, Unicef Country representative Keith McKenzie told a government-organised news conference that the NGO had sent Sh230 million directly to Bundibugyo District to support the Ebola fight, "including payment for health workers. Latest statistics show that Ebola has killed 19 people out of 74 cumulative infections.
The latest victim has been identified as Mighten Muliwaviyo, the chairman of the business community in Bundibugyo town council who died on Monday night, amid reports of new infections in Kasese, Kabarole and Mbarara District.
By last evening, a man identified as Mr Johnson Baluku, who showed symptoms akin to that of Ebola, was reported to have been admitted at Bwera Hospital in Kasese while three alert cases were registered in Kabarole District.
The minister is expected to table the "emergency funds" budget to his colleagues during the Cabinet sitting today.
The junior minister had indicated that the Sh6b would be used for among other things; meeting recurrent operational costs, buying medical supplies and protective gears as well as paying risk allowance for health workers handling Ebola patients.
Unicef has through the central government separately given protective materials, medical equipments and supplies worth Sh861m to tackle the epidemic.
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AlaskaDenise · Dec 5, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

niman said:
Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12040703/Ebola_Uganda_Spread_Increase.html

Commentary

Uganda Ebola Spread Increases
Recombinomics Commentary
December 4, 2007

The conventional wisdom was that Ebola is containable because it kills its victims faster than it can find new ones. However, conditions on the ground are now proving otherwise. While 61 cases have been identified, Zaramba says the health ministry is having difficulty detecting more cases or identifying people with whom patients had contact. And as of the weekend, the disease had spread to three new zones in Bundibugyo district. Local officials speaking on the condition of anonymity say that the death toll is almost twice that reported.

The above comments describe the worsening situation in Uganda. Recent media reports suggest the outbreak has spread further this week, and the infections of health care workers raise transmission concerns. The current strain was difficult to identify, and is likely a recombinant. Recombination has been linked to the emergence of new Ebola strains, and some of these strains share a region of identity with H5 influenza. Both influenza and filoviruses are negative sense RNA viruses and influenza is transported and transmitted by migratory birds that fly into Africa.

The new species may also have different transmission modes. The symptoms of the cases are closer to those associated with H5N1 than those associated with Ebola. The CDC has partial Ebola sequence data, but the relationship between those sequences and prior Ebola sequences remain unclear.

Release of the partial sequences would be useful. The Ebola / H5 identity is in the envelope gene, and the region has differences in strains of Ebola as well as high and low path H5.

.

AlaskaDenise · Dec 5, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

niman said:
Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12040704/Ebola_Kampala.html

Commentary

Ebola Kills Health Care Worker in Kampala Uganda
Recombinomics Commentary
December 4, 2007

Uganda's main referral hospital, Mulago has received its first Ebola patient since the deadly virus broke out in the country's southwestern district of Bundibugyo.

Dr Yonah Kule, an employee of the International Air Ambulance (IAA) who contracted the highly communicable haemorrhagic fever while treating patients at Bundibugyo hospital last week, was admitted to the top most government medical centre in Kampala at the weekend.

"Yes, he (Kule) is in our isolation unit and he is fair now," Dr Edward Ddumba, the director of Mulago hospital told Daily Monitor yesterday.

A blog by two doctors on site in Bundibugyo indicated Dr Kule, 33, died tonight. The blog indicated he had a headache and fever when he checked in Friday night, and was ambulatory today after IV treatment.

The death of this health care workers hightens transmission concerns for the Ebola in Uganda. The number of health care workers hospitalized is high, and many did not return to their hospitalized patients.

Personel from WHO and Doctors Without Borders have arrived, but the situation in Uganda continues to deteriorate. Some hospitals have refused patients, while other agencies have limited movement.

The Ebola appears to be a new species and is likely a recombinant.

Sequence data on the new isoaltes would be useful.

.

Gert van der Hoek · Dec 5, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Two doctors die as Uganda Ebola toll climbs to 21

december 5 2007

KAMPALA (AFP) ? The Ebola virus has killed two doctors in western Uganda, bringing the toll to 21 since the strain first appeared in September, an official said on Wednesday.

"The sad news is that our doctor who was admitted in Mulago died last night and a senior clinic officer who had been in critical condition died this morning," said Samuel Kazinga, district commissioner for Bundibugyo, the epicentre of the new outbreak.

Kampala's Mulago hospital is the largest in the country. Some health officials have said that a lack of appropriate equiment in Mulago and other hospitals has allowed the virus to spread.

The health ministry confirmed the latest fatalities caused by the virulent local strain of Ebola, which kills up to 90 percent of its victims, mostly by puncturing blood vessels and spurring non-stop hemorrhage.

Eight pathogen experts from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC) arrived in the country on Tuesday to help battle the disease that has infected at least 64 people in Uganda.

Efforts to isolate suspected patients in the rural district neighbouring the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have failed as many residents fear hospitals are unsafe, authorities have said.

The rare disease, named after a small DRC river, killed at least 170 people in northern Uganda in 2000, with experts blaming poor sanitation and hygiene.

It was first discovered in the DRC in 1976, but other outbreaks have been recorded in Ivory Coast and Gabon.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i8F4hljiXzj8L-guVQf3olxqqMjg

Gert van der Hoek · Dec 5, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

HTTP://WWW.PARADOXUGANDA.BLOGSPOT.COM/

SNIPS FROM TODAYS BLOG

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 05, 2007

Ebola Bundibugyo: Mid Wednesday

Since every day seems like a week, multiple posts seem appropriate. Joshua Kule, the senior clinical officer, and the head nurse of the hospital (Peluce) also died this morning, so with Jonah that brings 3 of 6 health care workers admitted dying within 12 hours of each other.

So it is not surprising that both Scotts found the hospitals rather empty of patients and short on staff. Many are afraid, but a few brave and hard working souls persist.

- snip –

Meanwhile our airstrip might need an air traffic controller. I met a mid-morning flight bringing in the director general of the Ministry of Health as well as an assortment of WHO officials and someone with MSF too I think, it gets confusing. We don’t shake hands here anymore, so that puts an odd crimp in introductions.

I hear another flight landing now, and I know there’s a third one this afternoon, with CDC officials and I hope an MSF doctor. There are actually a significant number of doctors here now . . . But only three (as far as I can tell) are actually seeing patients (Scott, Dr. Yoti, and the Police Surgeon).

The others are one step removed, tracing contacts and managing data and handling logistics and reports. By the end of the day we hope that will have changed as a new medical superintendent is promised, and the MSF team expands.

- snip -

Concern is mounting all around us too. Two districts within Uganda announced that they would close off access to anyone from Bundibugyo, and the DRC announced closure of the Congo border (though I doubt their ability to enforce that).

If the CDC lab can become operational today and the samples from scattered patients (Fort Portal, Mbarara) be confirmed negative that might help the general sense of this thing spiraling out of control.

HenryN · Dec 5, 2007

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: New Ebola Strain in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Source: Uganda Red Cross
Date: 05 Dec 2007

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Uganda: Ebola - URCS intervenes to save lives, sends team to Bundibugyo



The Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) 0n December 1, 2007 dispatched a field assessment team to Bundibugyo District to support the Ministry of Health in containing the deadly Ebola disease.
In addition to the staff, about 100 volunteers are to be involved in the operations. Lead volunteers who worked on Ebola operations in Gulu have also be brought on board since they have past experience in handling Ebola cases. The URCS headquarter team will support the URCS Bundibugyo Branch to respond and contain the disease.This intervention follows confirmed death of people due to Ebola by the Ministry of Health. About 18 people have been reported dead in Bundibugyo while 84 cases have so far been reported.
Red Cross' intervention in the Ebola operations will include community sensitization through door-to-door sessions, community talks as part of the preventive measures. The Society will also carry out surveillance in the community by identifying suspected Ebola cases and reporting them to the Ministry of Health.
According to URCS' Secretary General, Mrs. Alice Uwase Anukur, URCS will also follow up contacts made by people suspected to have the deadly disease in communities and households to ensure that new cases are contained.
"As part of our operations, re-integration in the communities will be done to ensure that households with suspected cases are not discriminated within the communities as this causes stigma and psychological torture," she said.
"We shall be involved in community sensitization and awareness, community surveillance to identify suspected cases, follow up of contacts made and refer suspected cases to Ministry of Health."
The Uganda Red Cross Society will continue carrying out assessments in Bundibugyo and the nearby districts to identify any suspected cases and also contain the disease. The Red Cross through its Bundibugyo branch is working closely with the Ministry of Health, World Health Organization and district authorities.
URCS staff and volunteers dispatched to the field have been equipped with protective gears like gloves, facemasks, gumboots and electronic and communication equipment and handsets for ease of communication.
Before the Ebola disease was confirmed, URCS Bundibugyo Branch had been working closely with the district following a strange disease that hit the district. URCS Bundibugyo branch was put on alert and standby as samples were taken to South Africa for confirmation of Ebola. The Uganda Red Cross Society, as the leading humanitarian organization in Uganda, has been engaged in Ebola operations before. The Society has previously worked closely with Ministry of Health during Ebola outbreak in Gulu.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SSHN-79LEJY?OpenDocument

Ebola in Uganda: November 30 - December 17, 2007

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