Ebola in Uganda: November 30 - December 17, 2007

hawkeye · Nov 30, 2007

WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

November 30 2007 at 04:24PM

Geneva - The World Health Organisation expressed concern on Friday about the emergence of a new strain of the Ebola virus that has infected 51 people and killed 16 in western Uganda.

The outbreak, announced by US and Ugandan health officials on Thursday, is in Bundibugyo, near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo.

Genetic analysis of samples taken from some of the victims shows it is a previously unknown type of Ebola, making it the fifth strain, they said.

"We do not yet know yet exactly the lethality of this virus because we haven't tested all the samples," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told a news briefing in Geneva.

"But, obviously, anytime we're looking at Ebola and a new strain of Ebola, this presents a new challenge. So we're very concerned."

Ebola is a haemorrhagic fever, meaning it can cause internal and external bleeding. Victims often die of shock but symptoms can be vague, including fever, muscle pain and nausea.

It is known to infect humans, chimpanzees and gorillas.

Ugandan health officials have said the new strain appears to be relatively mild, but Dr Tom Ksiazek of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it was not yet clear whether this was the case. He said experts need to check to see how many diagnosed patients are still alive.

Patients with the new strain showed some clinical symptoms, including vomiting, that differed from the usual ones, Hartl said.

"We are very concerned about this because it does not present (clinically) in exactly the same way as other Ebola strains," he said.

Health officials are trying to trace all possible cases in order to test them and isolate them if necessary, he added.

hawkeye · Nov 30, 2007

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Uganda's Ebola outbreak is new strain: ministry

55 minutes ago

KAMPALA (AFP) ? A lethal Ebola virus that has killed at least 16 people and infected 51 others in western Uganda is a previously unknown strain, health authorities said Friday.

Analysis on victims' blood and tissue samples sent to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control's pathogens laboratory behaved differently from previous known strains of Ebola, they said.

"It is a new type of strain. It is different from the one we suffered in Gulu and also different from the one that reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo," said Sam Okware, who chairs Uganda's national hemorrhagic fever task force.

The first Ebola case was reported on November 10 in Bundibugyo district on the border with DR Congo, where three patients are currently in an isolation ward.

Virologists say previous strains destroyed the linings of blood capillaries and vessels, prompting fluids to drain out of the circulatory system through the body's orifices and pores, killing the victim through shock.

But there is not much bleeding in the new strain that appears to kill its victims after provoking a high fever, they say.

Authorities have assembled epidemiologists and virologists in the affected district to monitor the disease.

"We have put our people on alert for anyone who is complaining of fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and has developed rashes," Okware said, referring to the early symptoms of the new strain.

An outbreak of Ebola, a highly contagious disease that can have fatality rates as high as 90 percent, killed at least 170 people in northern Uganda's Gulu district in 2000.

A similar outbreak has killed at least 26 people in DR Congo's West Kasai region in recent weeks, according to the country's Health Minister Victor Makwenge Kaput.

It spreads by direct human contact, especially through infected blood.

The Ebola virus was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and in a nearby region of Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire). Outbreaks of Ebola have also occurred in the Ivory Coast and Gabon.

Treyfish · Nov 30, 2007

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA (04): (BUNDIBUGYO), EBOLA CONFIRMED
[1]
Date: Fri 30 Nov 2007
Source: allAfrica.com [edited[
<http://allafrica.com/stories/200711291106.html>

Uganda: Ebola Strikes Again

The strange viral disease that struck the western district of
Bundibugyo in August [2007] and has to date killed 16 people has been
confirmed by the Health Ministry to be Ebola haemorrhagic fever, a
deadly disease for which there is no cure.

Announcing the existence of the Ebola [virus] in the country
yesterday, Dr Sam Zaramba, the director general of health services
said; "The Ministry of Health would like to inform the public that
the mysterious disease outbreak in Bundibubyo has now been confirmed
to be Ebola." The confirmatory laboratory tests, initially carried
out at the National Institute of Virology in South Africa and later
at the US-based Centre for Disease Control, comes months after the
disease spread to 14 villages in the affected district.

Dr Zaramba yesterday denied reports that the government had known
about the deadly epidemic outbreak weeks earlier but concealed it in
order not to scare away foreign dignitaries who were scheduled to
attend the just concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in
Kampala. "It would be unethical for me to keep quiet (about an
epidemic outbreak).

It is true we knew there was a strange disease in
western Uganda but had not got the conclusive confirmation that it
was Ebola until today (Thursday) [29 Nov 2007] morning," he stressed.
He said the laboratory diagnostic process was so arduous and
protracted that out of 20 (blood) samples sent to foreign capitals,
"only eight tested positive".

Dr William Sikyewunda, the district director of health services for
Bundibugyo said latest reports indicate the disease had killed at
least 27 residents and 51 others were infected, mainly in Bubukwanga
and Kasitu sub-counties. But other unconfirmed reports put the total
death toll to date at 50.

The government yesterday dispatched a team of health officials from
the Ministry of Health headquarters in Kampala to strengthen rapid
response capability in the trouble spots. "The initial supplies and
drugs for case management have been mobilised and isolation
facilities are already operational in Bundibugyo Hospital and Kikyo
Health centre (IV)," the ministry said in the press statement.

The chairman of the National Ebola taskforce, Dr Sam Okware, said the
Ebola strain identified in the western enclave is "completely
different" from the four known sub types of the heamorrhagic fever
namely; Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Reston (that only affects
monkeys) and Ebola Tai (Ivory Coast).

The common symptoms of Ebola, that causes death in 70 to 90 percent
of all clinically ill cases; include very high fever, diarrhea,
vomiting associated with red eyes and a measles-like rash. Health
officials issued a countrywide wide Ebola alert and urged the public
to be vigilant and promptly report any suspected cases to the nearest
health facility or call the cell phone hotlines 0772507799,
0772409810.

Daily Monitor has established that a core group of specialized staff
from World Health Organization, Unicef, MSF - France and Afrinet left
for Bundibugyo yesterday to join local medics and bolster case
management of patients, contact tracing and public education. "Ebola
is spread by close contact with body fluids of an infected person or
people who have died of the disease. Anybody handling suspected cases
must use appropriate protective wear," the official warning statement
said.

Medical experts say the incubation period for the Ebola virus is
between two to 21 days, depending on the strain. By last evening,
information emerged that Bundibugyo hospital medical superintendent
only identified as Dr Ssesanga and Dr Joshua Akure, another medic and
employee of International Air Ambulance were down with illnesses
suspected to be Ebola.

Ebola last struck Uganda in the northern district of Gulu in October
2000 and killed 224 people, including Dr Mathew Lukwiya, the then
medical superintendent of Lacor hospital, who first identified and
later relentlessly spearheaded the fight against the disease. It was
believed that Ugandan soldiers who were by then returning from the
Democratic Republic of Congo brought the disease into the country.
The WHO says Ebola has in the past four months killed 160 out of 352
infected persons, especially in the southern province of DRC's Kasai
Occidental, which is about 2, 000 kilometres away from Uganda. The
virulent disease was first identified in the Western Equatorial
province of Sudan and in a nearby region of former Zaire (now
Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1976 and about 1500 cases with over
1000 deaths have been documented ever since.

Just like Marburg fever, the Ebola virus' natural reservoir is still
a puzzle, experts have said, but it seems to reside in African rain
forests and in areas of the Western Pacific, according to the United
Nations health agency but is said to be part of a group of
negative-stranded RNA viruses, known as Filoviridae and mostly not
airborne.

[Byline: Tabu Butagira & Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa: Additional reporting
by Jane Nafula]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>

**************
[2]
Date: Fri 30 Nov 2007
Source: Agence France Press report [edited]
<http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gyddRPqYbvM2nbT-YjpceBWqN2jQ>

Ebola confirmed as killer virus in Uganda
---------------------------------------------------
A virus that killed 16 people and infected more than 50 others in
western Uganda has been confirmed as Ebola, the health ministry said
Thursday [29 Nov 2007]. The deadly virus was confirmed in samples
flown to a laboratory in Atlanta in the United States, the ministry
said. "We have been on the ground and we are deploying more people to
manage the situation," said Sam Zaramba, the country's top medical
official.

Zaramba said the first case was reported on November 10 in Bundibugyo
district on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
where three patients were currently in an isolation ward. "It is a
dangerous disease as is any other haemorrhagic fever, but the WHO
(World Health Organisation) and officials from CDC (Centre for
Disease Control) are working with us to remain in control of the
situation," Zaramba explained.

An outbreak of Ebola, a highly contagious disease that can have
fatality rates as high as 90 percent, killed at least 170 people in
northern Uganda in 2000. It spreads by direct human contact,
especially through blood contact. A similar Ebola outbreak killed at
least 26 people in DR Congo's West Kasai region in recent weeks,
according to the country's Health Minister Victor Makwenge Kaput. The
WHO says Ebola has killed at least 1200 people since it was first
discovered in DRC and Sudan in 1976.

http://www.promedmail.org/

Treyfish · Nov 30, 2007

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Uganda: Ebola Outbreak Paralyses Activities in Western Region

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The Monitor (Kampala)
1 December 2007
Posted to the web 30 November 2007
Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa & Joseph Mugisha
Bundibugyo /Kampala
Ebola outbreak in Bundibugyo District has paralysed businesses and social activities in the larger part of western Uganda.
Bundibugyo RDC Samuel Kazinga said many residents in Kasese, Bundibugyo and Kabarole have confined themselves at home for fear of catching the disease, "The district has not yet been officially quarantined but it has happened naturally because locals here and in neighbouring districts are no longer moving from their localities. Businesses are paralysed and we are worried for what will come next," he said on telephone on Friday.

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This follows confirmatory laboratory tests which showed that the strange viral disease that has been battering the district since August is Ebola haemorrhagic fever, a deadly plague for which there is no cure. Sixteen people have so far been reported dead and 51 others infected, according to the Health ministry.
However, unofficial reports put the number of the dead at 30.
By Thursday evening, at least 14 villages had been affected. These include, Kabango, Ntandi , Butolya, Kikyo, Kizufo, and Bugharama. Others are Butantagua , Bulhambago, Bundimwali I, Buyaya, Bugharama II and Bulhambaghiri.The government yesterday dispatched a response team of medical experts in the district to trace contacts of the deadly Ebola patients.
"Part of the response team from Kampala is already here and I am heading it to ensure that we arrest the situation," said Dr. William Sikyewunda , the district director of health services for Bundibugyo.
Dr. Sikyewunda said Kikyo Health Centre IV in Kasitu Sub-county on the foothills of Mount Rwenzori has been declared the Ebola treatment centre. He said seven new cases had been recorded at the centre.
In Kabarole, a scare was sparked off by the death of unidentified man who is reported to have left Bundibugyo on Wednesday.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=9 width=180 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=right><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" bgColor=#000000 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=nav align=middle>East Africa
Health and Medicine
Uganda
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The common symptoms of Ebola, which causes death in 70 to 90 per cent of all clinically ill cases, include very high fever, diarrhea, vomiting associated with red eyes and a measles-like rash.
Health officials issued a countrywide Ebola alert and urged the public to be vigilant and promptly report any suspected cases to the nearest health facility or call on phone hotlines 0772507799, 0772409810.
Ebola last struck Uganda in the northern district of Gulu in October 2000 and killed 224 people, including Dr Mathew Lukwiya, the then medical superintendent of Lacor Hospital.:tiphat: http://allafrica.com/stories/200711301144.html

Treyfish · Dec 1, 2007

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Uganda

30 November 2007
The Ministry of Health (MoH), Uganda, has confirmed an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, in Bundibugyo District, western Uganda. As of 28 November, 51 suspected cases, including 16 deaths have been reported. Among the reported cases, 3 health care workers were also infected, including one fatality. Cases are being hospitalized at Kikyo and Bundibugyo.
Laboratory analysis undertaken at the National Reference Laboratories and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA has confirmed the presence of a new species of Ebola virus in samples taken from cases associated with the outbreak.
Based on initial field investigations, the MoH/WHO Country office has reported that the outbreak might have been ongoing since Sept 2007. A national task force comprising MoH, WHO and other international partners in the field, is coordinating the response to this outbreak. WHO Country office is assisting the MOH national field team and the District health officials.:tiphat: http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_11_30a/en/index.html

vinny · Dec 1, 2007

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Death-toll rises from Uganda's Ebola outbreak
By Francis Kwera Reuters - Saturday, December 1 12:54 pmKAMPALA (Reuters) - Two more Ugandans have died of a new strain of the deadly Ebola virus in an outbreak near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo, bringing the death-toll to 18, health officials said on Saturday.

"We have had two more deaths in the last 24 hours, and the disease continues to spread," Sam Zaramba, the Ugandan Health Ministry's director of health services, told Reuters.

Zaramba said World Health Organisation (WHO) officials had teamed up with local experts to draw up a strategy to contain the outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever in the western Bundibugyo region. More than 50 people are also infected.

"We have set up isolation wards where all those who have been diagnosed with Ebola have been quarantined, and are being monitored closely," Zaramba added.

Genetic analysis of samples taken from some of the victims shows it is a previously unknown type of Ebola, making it the fifth strain, U.S. and Ugandan health officials say.

Ebola can cause internal and external bleeding. Victims often die of shock, but symptoms can be vague, including fever, muscle pain and nausea. It is known to infect humans, chimpanzees and gorillas.

Uganda was last hit by an epidemic of Ebola in 2000, when

425 people caught it and just over half of them died.

An outbreak in neighbouring Congo this year infected up to 264 people, killing 187, the World Health Organisation says.

Ugandan health officials originally suspected Marburg, a close Ebola cousin that infected three people in a different part of western Uganda the month before, killing one.

But samples had tested negative.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20071201/thl-uk-uganda-ebola-55be19a_6.html

HenryN · Dec 1, 2007

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

Re: WHO concerned at new Ebola strain in Uganda

18 BP identity between Ebola and H5

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