Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising
Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising
Uganda: Ebola Isolation Centre Closed Over Violence
TWO more people, including a senior clinical officer, died of Ebola in Bundibugyo yesterday as violence in Kabarole forced the closure of Kichwamba isolation centre.
Asanasio Mate is the fifth health worker to succumb to the deadly virus. He had been admitted at Bundibugyo hospital in a critical condition. Other three medical workers in the same hospital are still fighting for their lives.
The second Ebola victim, who died on Sunday, was an old woman whose identity could not be established by press time.
In Kabarole, irate villagers, said to have been incited by the local leaders, attacked the Kichwamba isolation centre, smashing windows and doors.
Passions had been running high since the district decided to locate the centre at Kichwamba, with residents threatening to flee their village.
Some patients, who had been taken to the centre as they awaited the results of their tests, fled to Bundibugyo and Kabarole. Other patients were transferred to Buhinga Hospital, where an isolation centre has been created.
The commissioner for health services, Dr. Sam Okware, yesterday said the ministry had flown experts to Kichwamba to investigate the riot.
In a bid to appease the population, the ministry of health started sensitising the communities, using a mobile film van.
In Buhinga, too, the presence of suspected Ebola patients scared others. Medical workers said the out-patients' department, which is usually packed, had only one patient on Thursday and only two on Friday.
The in-patients had fled several days earlier when people who showed signs associated with Ebola were admitted at the temporary isolation ward.
In another incident, two patients exhibiting signs of Ebola and their relatives turned violent at Virika Hospital when medical staff did not immediately find transport to transfer them to Buhinga hospital. The hospital had to give an askari protective gear so that he could restrain them.
Health workers in Kabarole reported a lot of fear among the public, which they said could hamper the fight against Ebola. They complained that relatives of suspected patients attacked medical staff, insisting that they must be allowed to handle their patients.
"You find about four people attending to one person, insisting on touching the patient with bare hands. They will spread this disease further," Dr. Musa Walakira said.
Reports from Bundibugyo also said families of patients who died of Ebola, including the family of Dr. Jonah Kule, were being shunned by members of the community.
"Families of patients have experienced isolation. Neighbours are running away from them. Merchants refuse to accept the money they pay to buy food," Dr. Myhre of World Mission Harvest said in a report.
About 350 people are being monitored in Bundibugyo and Kasese. Medical sources said by yesterday, about 50% of them had received check-in visits from mobile medical teams.
Bundibugyo Hospital medical superintendent, Dr. Richard Ssessanga, who had contracted the virus, was expected to be discharged.
The Bundibugyo Resident District Commissioner, Samuel Kazinga, said four other Ebola patients were discharged on Saturday after they recovered. Eight more were ready to be discharged.
According to Dr. Okware, some of the alert patients were found to be suffering from other diseases, which also cause bleeding.
He said the two suspected cases in Adjumani were found to be suffering from other illnesses, while the case in Kanungu had symptoms which were not compatible with Ebola.
The two suspected cases in Lacor Hospital in Gulu also had other ailments, while a 10-month-old baby in Gulu had been discharged after it was found negative.
He dismissed claims that additional cases had been reported in Kampala. There was only one case, Dr. Jonah Kule, who died, he stressed. A guard had been suspected but he was found suffering from dysentery and would be discharged.
In Mubende, a woman was admitted to the main hospital in critical condition exhibiting symptoms associated with Ebola. Florence Nakigudde's presence at the hospital caused panic. She is the second person admitted to the hospital with similar symptoms.
Meanwhile, the lab for testing Ebola has started operating at the Uganda Virus Research Centre in Entebbe. Before, blood samples had to be sent to the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, US, which caused costly delays.
By Anne Mugisa, John Thawite, Abdulkarim Ssengendo, Nathan Etengu and Luke Kagiri
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712100049.html
Looks like it has been pretty contagious all week to me:tiphat:
