Ebola in Uganda: November 30 - December 17, 2007

[HenryN]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

http://paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/2007/12/ebola-bundibugyo-sunday-numbers-no.html

As usual we headed to Bundibugyo town this evening, but this time we stopped first in Kirindi. Jonah?s brother had called me earlier in the day, and I had gathered there was something he wanted to tell me though the connection was terrible. All I could ascertain was that everyone was OK . . . So we drove up there at 4, bringing mosquito nets and insect repellant in response to massive numbers of insect bites I?d seen on the girls, and more air time for Melen?s phone in case one of the family became ill. We found Melen sitting outside for the first time, in a clean dress for the first time, and then it became clear that the message was about the Oluku, funeral rites, they had been inviting me to participate. Oh well. After four days of mourning there is a tradition of bathing, washing clothes, and bringing closure. I?m glad they were able to achieve this, and make some slight progress in life. Jonah?s mother and brother continue to remain symptom free.

The task force meeting occurred as usual outside, a circle of plastic chairs, in the shade of the RDC?s office building. Tonight he went on the offensive immediately. He wanted answers, and results, and now. We like him, he?s an effective and persuasive man. But tonight he was looking for people to blame, and this was the tone of the meeting in general. Everyone is under stress. Some of that may be related to unfavorable press in the Sunday papers questioning government response, some may be due to the growing possibility that this epidemic spread by travelers to a handful of other districts before Ebola was identified as the cause. It is not a simple or hopeful picture. So here we go:

 

[HenryN]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

http://paradoxuganda.blogspot.com/2007/12/ebola-bundibugyo-sunday-numbers-no.html

• Cumulative cases: 112
• Cumulative deaths: 28 (Case Fatality Rate 25%, which while horrific is certainly not as bad as the 90% sometimes seen)
• Contacts identified: 368
• Traced today: 189 (51% and building, they feel they are able each day to improve their outreach. This is the key to containing spread! I confirmed with Melen that their family had been checked on daily for the last three days).
• Social Mobilization: many churches were visited, but no one outshone our own Scott Will for sheer volume of services rendered!
• Isolation Ward, Bundibugyo: 19 current census. 5 new admissions today, 2 deaths, 3 discharges . . . And another 5 nearly recovered and ready for discharge. 3 however remain critical.
• Isolation Ward, Kikyo: 13 current census. 2 new admissions, 0 deaths, 3 discharges. Of these 13, 2 are considered critically ill.
• Staffing: complete staff of 16 nurses now in Bundibugyo but some still in training so only 7 functional, staff in Kikyo 8 of the desired 12. There was some controversy about doctor staffing. The RDC looked severely at Scott and asked why expatriate doctors weren?t working in the isolation ward. Hmmm. But MSF denies needing help. We?re not sure where that leaves us. If we could help build trust by being in the mix Scott would do it, but we don?t want to get in the way either. It is difficult to get people to understand that a 25% CFR in Ebola is actually good news; they tend to feel that the announcement of any death represents a medical failure of care.
• Labs: No results yet. 6 more samples collected.
• Controversies: besides staffing, the main discussion points were spraying and herbs. There is a public perception that spraying the house of an infected person with chlorine solution (bleach) will stop transmission. MSF routinely instructs their ambulance teams to spray the home after picking up a patient to transport in to the ward. However the district would like to see the homes of all 112 cumulative cases sprayed. We talked a long time about the fact that the virus can?t live more than a few hours outside of a host, so going back to spray the homes of people sick weeks or months ago seems pointless, except for the psychological benefit, which may not be justifiable if it drains precious human resources from stemming the current spread. On herbs, some of our district leadership truly believes that the local culture may have herbs that cure this disease. It seems that patients don?t want to enter isolation because then they?ll be cut off from their local remedies. The CDC voice of reason pointed out that we don?t know if any of these treatments might actually be harmful, and that if they are administered by cuts or enemas they could promote transmission of the disease. The RDC voice of reason stated categorically that we will only use science to determine treatments. But it was clear that most of the people present at the meeting who were actually from this district had their doubts, and were holding onto the hope that some herbal combination would provide a cure.
  

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Ebola isolation centre closed over violence

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/601209?highlight&q=ebola

Sunday, 9th December, 2007

Ministry of Health officials dress up before taking blood samples from suspected Ebola patients at Buhinga Hospital

By Vision Reporters

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

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Can you contract Ebola from a handshake, pay phone?

Sunday, 9th December, 2007

By Arthur Baguma

CAN the highly-contagious Ebola virus be contracted from casual contact? Public perception is that as you go about your daily routine, you could easily contract the virus from simple day-to-day encounters like a hand shake or using a public pay phone.

The common way through which Ebola is transmitted is contact with bodily fluids such as mucus, saliva and blood. Below are the perceptions causing fear in the public in the face of Ebola, which has so far claimed 24 lives.

Communal customs

Dr Christopher Orach, the head of the Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences at Makerere University Institute of Public Health, says community gatherings are the most deadly sources of spreading the Ebola virus.

?Communal gatherings are very harmful, especially if there are Ebola patients or people who have been looking after them,? he says.
Orach advises people to avoid communal eating or washing of hands, which in the past wiped out a family.

In 2001, family members and friends in Gulu kept the body of a 36-year old woman in her hut during a two-day funeral. They conducted a ritual bath and buried her less than 30 feet from the hut, before washing their hands in a communal basin as a sign of unity. That was on September 7, 2000.

What they did not know then was that the woman had died of Ebola. The deceased?s mother, three sisters and three other relatives died of the disease within days after the burial. And several people who attended the funeral contracted the disease.

Hand shake

This is misplaced fear, according to Dr Alex Opio, the assistant commissioner in charge of National Disease Control at the Ministry of Health. What should be feared is a handshake with people who are infected and probably with hands contaminated by their body fluids.
?If you touch the fluid and again touch your eyes, you will be infected, Dr Opio says.

To touch or shake hands with an infected person, you need protective gear like gloves. And it is advised that you wash your hands with soap and water immediately after shaking hands with an infected person or a suspected victim.

Public pay phones

Most people think there is a possibility of contracting Ebola from a pay phone which has been used by a victim. However Orach says the chances are very minimal.

?It is unlikely that one would easily contract the disease here. Viruses do not survive long when exposed to ultra viral rays. They mainly survive through body fluids of an infected person. I do not see a phone as a likely source of Ebola,? he says.

Public transport

As the Christmas festivities set in, there will be a lot of movement as people travel to different parts of the country to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones. The fear is that this might increase the risks of contracting the deadly virus, especially in public vehicles.

Orach says this is only likely if one sits next to a sick person and they vomit or pass out body fluids, including sweat, especially if it is a long journey.

Touching Money

There are fears that if an Ebola patient has held money and another person gets their hands on it, they could also contract the disease. Some banks have taken the threat so seriously that they have decided to buy gloves for their staff as a precautionary measure.

However, Orach downplays contracting Ebola from touching money that has gone through the hands of an infected person.

?Money is a very unlikely source of the infection,? he stresses. ?Certainly, it is ok for bank staff to have gloves, not only for the Ebola problem, but other fungal infections. But it is not possible for one to contract Ebola from money picked from the bank.?

Hugging

There are fears that hugging a person with the virus could also expose one to the disease.

?Intimate hugging with a sick person can expose one to the disease, especially through sweat.?

Spitting in public

Saliva from an infected person can also spread the virus. However, spitting in public is bad. It is unhygienic.

Public toilets

Orach warns that if one goes to a public toilet and finds water all over the floor and excreta, then it is a risk. But if there is safe disposal and the place dry and clean, even if someone infected has used it, the next person cannot contract the virus from there.

Crowded places

Opio says if people are in a crowded place with no person infected, there is no danger. It becomes a problem when there is an infected person. However, he says people should not be scared since the problem is confined to Bundibugyo district.

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Excerpts from a speech by H.E. Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of Uganda on 6th December 2007 (Reported on Sunday, 9th December, 2007)

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/601232?highlight&q=ebola

Ebola precautions
First of all, you have been hearing that there is an outbreak of Ebola. It started in Bundibugyo and it is a dangerous disease. Some people survive it but the mortality rate is also quite high. Therefore, I would encourage you for the time being, to stop shaking hands...

...Dr. Jonah Kule died here in Kampala. He had come to see his children, but he did not even see them because he got sick and went to hospital, where he died. However, he was in isolation; so we do not think that we have a problem in Kampala yet.

...There are some small groups of people who eat monkeys. Even now with this outbreak of Ebola in Bundibugyo, the first family who all died said they had eaten a dead goat.

...First of all, you are not supposed to eat dead things, goat or no goat; even worse, I doubt that this was a goat. That is why we said: ?Okay; if it was a goat, show us the skin because we can test that skin and find out whether it had Ebola in it?. However, they have not showed us the goat skin yet; most probably because it was not a goat they had eaten, it was something else.

..., to help us enlighten people to stop eating these things they should not be eating. Being primates, monkeys are close to human beings. It is, therefore, a form of ?cannibalism? to eat them. That is why the monkeys, baboons and other primates suffer from the same sicknesses that affect human beings. It is like eating your brother. This is point number one....

Kololo, December 6, 2007
The writer is the president of Uganda

-------------

Comment: one is reminded of the "Kuru Disease", (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_%28disease%29) which is believed to be caused by prions and is related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; it spread easily owing to the cannibalistic rituals of the Fore Tribe of Papua New Guinea.

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Ebola in Uganda

Category: Infectious disease
Posted on: December 9, 2007 4:33 PM, by revere
<!--proximic_content_on-->There's a growing Ebola outbreak in Uganda. We've been watching it and I've gotten an email or two wondering why we weren't posting on it. There are a lot of nasty disease outbreaks in the world and we don't cover most of them. Ebola gets news because it is a hideous disease with high fright value but it isn't alone in that department. Ebola also isn't very contagious and like SARS, is mainly so in the later stages of the disease so less likely to spread worldwide. We discuss bird flu here because it is a way for us to talk about public health more generally. But we do talk about other diseases from time to time, although usually in a larger public health context, as we did recently with measles. And it seems Ebola is something that can and should have our attention now, if only as a reminder there are people in this world, in this case in Uganda, who fight a terrible desperate fight against diseases whose names we barely know or have hardly ever heard of.
And like SARS, Ebola is a special threat to health care workers:

Health workers are among the dead in an Ebola outbreak in Uganda, spreading panic among doctors and nurses needed to help treat victims of the highly contagious disease, officials said Thursday. Doctors and nurses did not at first know what they were facing, so they failed to protect themselves, according to a lawmaker representing the western region at the center of the outbreak. Experts say the Ebola subtype that sparked the outbreak is new and the classic Ebola symptoms were not always present, slowing diagnosis. (Washington Post)
​

There are reports this is a new strain of Ebola and while its case fatality rate is horrendous (currently about 25%) this is much lower than previous experience which usually exceeded 50%. There are now over 100 cases in this outbreak and 25 deaths. Seven years ago another Ebola outbreak in Uganda caused 170 deaths, so this is not the largest, but there is as yet no sign it has been contained.
Unlike other diseases, an Ebola outbreak is not likely to slip under the radar. But we'll continue to keep an eye on it.


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Comments

It's got peoples attention because it's a brand new strain of ebola. Since it's an all new strain, they should determine as quickly as possible if this new strain is more contagious to humans than the others. There has never been a previous outbreak with this particular strain before so it's hard to compare it with anything. There are 10 healthcare workers sick, which seems uncommon for the normal ebola.


Posted by: Brad Jergens | December 9, 2007 5:17 PM :tiphat: http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2007/12/ebola_in_uganda.php



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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Commentary at

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12090703/Ebola_SARS_Super.html

Commentary

Parallels Between SARS and Ebola Super Spreaders

Recombinomics Commentary
December 9, 2007

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12040704/Ebola_Kampala.htmlJonah was the primary doctor for Muhindo Jeremiah, an older gentleman who had been active in visiting the sick in Kikyo then fell ill in Bundibugyo. A week and a half ago Muhindo died.

The above description of Jeremiah Muhindo, sounds remarkably similar to the physician, Liu Jianlun, who had been treating patients in China for a ?mysterious disease? in February, 2003. The physician travel to Hong Kong to attend a wedding. After checking into room 911 at the Metropole Hotel, he fell ill and checked out, after vomiting in the hall. He subsequently died of SARS and did several guests and visitors on the 9th floor of the hotel. However, they first traveled to Singapore, Hanoi, Toronto, and Hong Kong before they developed symptoms. They were ?super spreaders? and infected many contacts, including family members and health care workers.

The sequences of SARS CoV from the contacts indicated the index case was infected with multiple variants of the virus, possibly because he had seen many patients in China and was co-infected. The isolates from contacts were similar, but minor differences paired up with both earlier and later cases, indicating the super-spreaders, also had co-infections. These variants were generated through recombination.

The same scenario may be developing in Uganda involving a novel Ebola virus. The Bundibugyo strain is distinct from earlier Ebola isolates, and recent reports have described recombination in Ebola. In the recent demonstration Zaire isolates from patients and apes were compare to demonstrate the recombination, which was between closely related sequences.

Jeremiah Muhindo has been linked to fatal infections in contacts and health care workers at the Bundibugyo hospital, where Muhindo was the first Ebola linked fatality. His primary care doctor, Jonah Kule, had last contact on November 23, when he adjusted his patient?s oxygen mask. Five days later Dr Kule developed symptoms, and died on December 4. Within 24 hours, four other health care workers linked to the Bundigbugyo hospital, as well as a contact died. Muhindo?s mother, brother, wife, daughter, and two friends had been hospitalized. On December 7, his brother also died. Thus, at least six contacts have died and five others have been hospitalized (one of the health care workers has been discharged).

The spike in health care worker deaths, at the same tike as the deaths of contacts, suggests these cases may be linked and these cases may also be super-spreaders because they have been co-infected with multiple variants of the Bundibugyo Ebola species.

More information on the status of contacts, as well as sequences from this cluster would be useful.


.

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Definition of Super spreader

Super spreader: A highly infectious person who spreads the agent of an infectious disease to many other people. The historic prototype of the super spreader was Typhoid Mary. The term has also been applied to some persons with SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) who seemed to have inadvertently spread SARS to an unusually large number of other people.


http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=22951

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

So,the Revere's says ebola is not very contagious! Looks like it has been pretty contagious all week to me:tiphat:

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA (09): (BUNDIBUGYO)

<http://www.promedmail.org>
Date: Sun 9 Dec 2007
From: Karl Johnson <KarlMJohnson@aol.com>


A comment on the current Ebola virus outbreak in Uganda
-----------------------------------------------
There is much understandable but sometimes inaccurate commentary in
the reports on recent Ebola virus outbreaks on ProMED. One error
concerns the amount of gross hemorrhage in previous epidemics with
both the Zaire and Sudan species of the agent. Despite lay reports of
major bleeds from nose, other orifices and eyes, the amount of blood
lost externally in the syndrome has never been significant. Indeed,
this fact frequently produces difficulty in making a probable
clinical diagnosis in the early phase of febrile illness.

I do not think that the putative clinical differences cited in the
current Uganda outbreak should be used in any way to give support to
the notion of a new viral species. Moderator caution regarding that
question is rightly expressed. What could be significant is the
possible mortality rate described. When diagnostic capability is
established in the region, it will be important to seek samples from
those putatively recovered, once the work of confirming active cases
settles down.

--
Communicated by:
Karl Johnson <KarlMJohnson@aol.com>

[Karl Johnson's experience extends back to the 1st outbreaks of Ebola
hemorrhage fever in Sudan and Zaire, and ProMED-mail welcomes the
opportunity to pass on his comment. - Mod.CP]

 

[Niko]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA (09): (BUNDIBUGYO)

**snipped**

I do not think that the putative clinical differences cited in the
current Uganda outbreak should be used in any way to give support to
the notion of a new viral species. Moderator caution regarding that
question is rightly expressed.

**snipped**
--
Communicated by:
Karl Johnson <KarlMJohnson@aol.com>

[Karl Johnson's experience extends back to the 1st outbreaks of Ebola
hemorrhage fever in Sudan and Zaire, and ProMED-mail welcomes the
opportunity to pass on his comment. - Mod.CP]

Okay, maybe "new" is the wrong word to be using....
per the CDC (USA) at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/outbreaks/index.htm

<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr align="left" valign="top"><td bgcolor="#ffffcc">[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]2007: Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreak in Uganda[/SIZE][/FONT]</td> <td bgcolor="#ffffcc" width="56">[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][/SIZE][/FONT]</td> </tr> </tbody></table> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]On November 26, 2007, CDC received blood samples from the Ugandan Ministry of Health, taken from 20 of the 49 patients involved in an outbreak of an unknown illness in Bundibugyo district in western Uganda. Patients reported fever, enteritis, and bleeding. Of the 49, 14 have died. Genetic sequencing of a small segment of viral RNA from samples indicated the presence of a previously unknown strain of Ebola virus. At the invitation of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, CDC, WHO, and other collaborators will deploy field investigators to the affected region.[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=485 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=menutitle height=18>News | December 10, 2007</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top height=30>Ebola toll now at 28
SOLOMON MUYITA , HUSSEIN BOGERE ,STEVEN WADDELL & JOSEPH
MUGISA
LASTEST reports on the Ebola outbreak indicates that the death toll has risen to 28, with total infections since outbreak reported at 107.
The Ministry of Health also confirmed yesterday that Asanasio Kinyerere, a clinical ophthalmic officer attached to Bundibugyo Hospital died of Ebola on Saturday, bringing to death toll of health workers to five.
Earlier, a medical officer, a clinical officer, a senior nursing officer and a nursing assistant, all attached to Bundibugyo Hospital, got infected with the deadly Ebola while treating Ebola-infected patients and died within the course of last week.
The Director General of Health Services, Dr Sam Zaramba, who confirmed the toll and the infections, said that Ebola cases have so far been confirmed in Bundibugyo, Kabarole and Kasese districts.
"All the reports that have come through about the other districts are alert cases and our findings are that they don't meet the criteria," said Dr Zaramba. He dispelled fears that Ebola cases were in the district of Kampala, Mbale, Masaka and Kanungu.
He, however, said all the "alert" cases were still in isolation and under close supervision of the health workers. "Like we have established that case reported in Mulago was a dysentery case, not Ebola," said Dr Zaramba.
Of the confirmed Ebola patients, at least 19 are undergoing treatment at isolation wards in Bundibugyo Hospital, 14 others are in Kikyo Health Center IV, one child-case in Bwera-Kasese and some two adults are in Kichwamba, the health director confirmed.
Signs of the deadly virus have since appeared in different parts of the country. Health workers are still investigating a case in Mbale, eastern Uganda, where a young lady suffering from a disease with symptoms of Ebola and similarly in Masaka where two fishermen died.
Dr Sam Okware, the commissioner for Health Services, said Ebola management this time round is better because the death toll out of the total number of the people who developed the disease is 24 percent. "In 2000, the death toll was almost 100 percent, but it is much better this time," said Dr Okware.
He said besides the management of Ebola patients, the Ebola Task Force has also been kept busy by endless rumours of Ebola cases which they have to respond to every other minute. "Rumours come in and are investigated but we have found no threats," he said, giving an example of four new cases reported in areas of Kampala. Two people suddenly died in Kampala out of other natural causes, sending people in disarray, according to Dr Okware, "but when the team checked, it was nothing like Ebola.
He said the Laboratory at the Uganda Virus Institute at Entebbe started carrying out tests from probable cases of Ebola (yesterday), whose results are obtainable in 24 hours.
The ministry said teams were also probing cases in Kanungu and Kasese districts and Adjumani District for possible Ebola infections.
Lt. Tabaro Kiconco, the Western Army spokesperson told Daily Monitor that out of the 106 infected, at least 42 were likely to be discharged at the weekend, one of them a UPDF soldier, Pte. Fred Lubwama. Many, whose samples were taken to Entebbe laboratory, were only awaiting confirmation test.
Two Kyambogo University students who travelled to western Uganda for the burial of Dr Johan Kule are still in isolation at an undisclosed place, according to the university's publicist, Paul Bulenzibuto.
The figure was scaled down from the initial four, after it emerged that two of the students had not actually traveled to Bundibugyo. The government last week sanctioned the release of Shs6 billion towards the efforts to wipe out epidemics from the country.
A US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta has set up a laboratory to beef-up the Uganda Virus Research Institute in analyzing the samples from suspected Ebola cases.
Alarmed by the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, the neighbouring Kenya, Rwanda and the DR Congo have since last week been on the alert by boosted surveillance in the border region with Uganda to block migration of suspected Ebola victims.:tiphat:


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Ebola_toll_now_at_28.shtml

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=485 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=menutitle height=18>Regional Special | December 10, 2007</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top height=30>Sironko in Ebola scare
David Mafabi
MBALE
Sironko District authorities have been thrown into panic after one of their workers suspected have contracted Ebola hemorrhagic fever case died at the Mbale Regional Hospital.
Olive Mukite, the Sironko District Information Officer who was admitted at Mbale regional hospital with high fever, diarrhea and vomiting on Thursday morning died later in the day.
Mukite died barely a week after the Sironko District council, technical staff and heads of departments visited Kisoro and Kabale districts for a study tour from November 26-29.
According to the Vice Chairman LC5, Mr Patrick Kibere, who led the team of 66 people, the team visited Kabale District, where they spent a night before traveling to Kisoro and then later Mbarara districts.
"We are really scared because if this girl has died of Ebola, then the entire council and heads of departments besides other technical personnel and their families are in danger," Mr Kibere said.
"We don't know what to do. We fear for our lives and our families and friends because we have mixed freely with them ever since we came back."
The district speaker, Mr Perez Mango, was lost for words.
When contacted by Daily Monitor, Mr Mango said, "Ministry of Health should just come to our rescue if it is true."
The Deputy Cao, Mr Peter Wotunya, who led the technical team, said the entire technical and political teams at the district were paralysed. No work was done because everyone is scared and awaiting a report from the Ministry Of Health.
The LC5 chairman, Mr Kibale Wambi, who did not make the trip to the western districts, said he was ready to die with his team.
"I didn't go to Kabale and Kisoro but if it is true this girl has died of Ebola, then my entire council and technical team is likely to perish. So as a leader, I have no choice but to go to my people and die with them," Mr Kibale said.
When Daily Monitor visited Sironko District headquarters, many people were shunning members of the team that made the trip.
Health officials at the district had not yet made a comment by press time.:tiphat: http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/regional-special/Sironko_in_Ebola_scare.shtml


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=485 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=menutitle height=18> News | December 10, 2007</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top height=30>Parliament suspends trip over Ebola
ROBERT MWANJE
KAMPALA

THE parliamentary HIV/Aids committee has suspended its country wide tour to boost Aids prevention campaign, due to the Ebola outbreak.
The committee chairman, Mr Elioda Tumwesigye, said legislators had organised a four day trip to Rakai District where the first Aids case was reported and stage and HIV/Aids awareness concert at Masaka town.
"We have suspended the entire programme until next year over Ebola outbreak. We can't move to these areas till the epidemic is curbed," Mr Tumwesigye said while addressing the youth during the World Aids day celebrations organised by Kamwokya Christian Caring Community in Kampala on Friday.
Over 20 members of Parliament had resolved to visit Kasensero Island and Bukuya landing site in Rakai District where the first Aids victim was identified, 25 years ago.
"The entire function was aimed at helping people double their willingness to fight HIV/Aids. Uganda should have an Aids free generation by 2010," he said.
The developments come days after Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (Utoda) suspended routes to Ebola hit regions. The organisation has also ordered taxi drivers not to ferry Ebola patients and to wear gloves while on duty.
Ebola epidemic hit the western region of the country days after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit. Ebola has threatened to engulf the whole country as the virus has spread to seven districts of Kasese, Kabarole in the western Uganda, Mubende, and Mbale in the east, Adjumani in West Nile, Kanungu and Masaka in Central region. The Ebola outbreak has so far claimed 24 lives out of the 101 reported cases.
The epidemic has also claimed lives of medical workers including, Dr Jonah Kule, a medical officer at Bundibugyo Hospital, Ms Rose Bulimpikya a matron at the same hospital and Mr Josua Kule, a senior clinical officer.
Mr Tumwesigye said Parliament will honour the late local Artiste, Philly Bongole Lutaaya for his vital role in fighting HIV/Aids. :tiphat:


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Parliament_suspends_trip_over_Ebola.shtml

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

:tiphat: http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/cartoon/Government_dispatched_a_team.shtml

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Red Cross in 706m/- Ebola campaign
YASIIN MUGERWA & AL-MAHAD SSENKABIRWA
KAMPALA
As the Ebola death toll rises to 25, Uganda Red Cross has launched a Shs706.7 million nation-wide appeal to assist victims in the nine affected districts.
This was announced by URC Chairperson Tom Buruku at a press conference over the weekend. He said the campaign has been dubbed, Ebola Fever Response Appeal seeking to support the response operations for over 600,000 people in western region for a period of four months.
"This disease is dangerous and we call upon the public to assist the victims both financially and in-kind. There is need to help us equip our volunteers with all the necessary needs to help identify and sensitise people in the affected areas," Mr Buruku said.
"We need supplies such as protective gear, drugs, transport (ambulances) for case management and referral. There is also need to support isolation units with blankets, disinfectant, intravenous, fluids, soap, and tents."
The mysterious strain has so far infected 104 people- and killed 25- some of them medical workers who treated patients without any protection.
Health authorities said the situation, although still grave, had started to improve mainly in hospitals where the government has deployed additional personnel and protective equipment.
But according to Uganda Red Cross, there is a big information gap in the public and especially in affected communities who have not been sensitised on the mode of the transfer of the disease.
Uganda Red Cross has so far sent 100 volunteers in the troubled district of Bundibugyo and will dispatch more 200 in the rest of the eight districts to sensitise and help identify cases.
The Red Cross was involved in response to an Ebola outbreak in 2000. Materials for community sensitisation and education were developed and will need to be translated and re-printed as part of the wider campaign to help in the fight against the disease.

Alarmed by the new outbreak, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has advised the public to refrain from handshakes and kissing while radio stations and mobile films are reaching out to communities at risk to pass on similar information.
According to Mr Buruku, posters, brochures and factsheets were being distributed in a bid to educate the largely unschooled public. Uganda Red Cross has also appealed for government intervention to ban discotheques, crusades and public video halls to reduce human contact and movement. :tiphat: http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Red_Cross_in_706m_-_Ebola_campaign.shtml

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Ebola virus ravages Uganda <TABLE style="WIDTH: 405px; HEIGHT: 44px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=caption style="WIDTH: 360px">
December 10 2007 at 01:34AM </TD></TR><TR><TD style="HEIGHT: 1px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #cccccc" colSpan=2></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=23 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=svarticletext>[SIZE=+1][/SIZE]Kampala - Three Ebola patients died in western Uganda on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 28, an official said, as the virus continued to ravage the impoverished region.

The three, including a health worker, died in Bundibugyo district, home to 250 000 people and the outbreak's epicentre, where health workers are struggling to contain the disease.

"Since the epidemic broke out, the cumulative cases have risen to 112, including 28 deaths. Three patients died today," Sam Kazinga, Bundibugyo district commissioner, told reporters by telephone.

Hundreds of villagers and medics who had physical contact with the patients have been put under observation, authorities said.
Because no one can explain how the disease entered Bundibugyo - seven years after it killed at least 170 people in northern Uganda - it is now the job of the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) to scour the district for clues.

Virologists are convinced that the disease erupted in September, wending its way through the district unnoticed, even though the first cases arrived in ill-equipped hospitals around the same time.

Spread by bodily fluids, the blood-borne disease was named after a small Congo river where it was discovered in 1976. It re-emerged in Sudan later the same year. Other outbreaks have been recorded in Ivory Coast, Gabon and Uganda. - Sapa-AFP :tiphat:
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20071209224958462C571873

 

[Treyfish]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><H1>Ebola ravages Uganda as local doctor dies after treating victims</H1></TD></TR><TR><TD class=article-author>Disease/Infection News</TD></TR><TR><TD class=article-date>Published: Sunday, 9-Dec-2007 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>With the latest reports suggesting that as many as 25 people have now fallen victim to the deadly virus, the new and mysterious strain of Ebola has infected some of the medical workers who treated patients without the aid of latex gloves and respirator gowns.

According to the Minister of State for primary health-care Dr. Emmanuel Otaala, eleven health workers treating Ebola patients have contracted the disease and four of them have died.
Among those was Dr. Jonah Kule who died on December 4 at Mulago Hospital from the hemorrhagic fever.
Dr. Kule who grew up in Bundibugyo, returned to the area after completing medical school in the capital city of Kampala.
Dr. Kule was one of the first to investigate the Ebola outbreak when it first appeared in October when rumours of a mysterious illness with fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and inexplicably rapid death initially surfaced.
Ebola appears to be ravaging parts of Uganda with another 104 people suspected of carrying the virus and hundreds more under close scrutiny.
Health authorities say although the situation remains serious it has started to improve in hospitals where the government has deployed additional personnel and protective equipment.
According to Sam Kazinga, the area's district commissioner, four people have recovered and are about to be discharged from Bundibugyo hospital and two others are about to be discharged from Kikyo health centre.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has urged the public to refrain from handshakes and kissing and the message is also being delivered by local radio stations and via public information campaigns.
Authorities fear the deadly virus will spread beyond the western Bundibugyo district which borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The World Health Organization and Ugandan officials are currently trying to track 327 people believed to have been in contact with the victims in order to assess their status.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Ebola hemorrhagic fever is lethal in humans, monkeys and other nonhuman primates.
Experts from the CDC are studying new blood and tissue samples from western Kanungu and Kasese districts and northwestern Adjuman district for possible Ebola infections.
The disease appeared for the first time 1976 and experts believe the virus is transmitted to humans by exposure to infected animals.
People infected with the virus suffer fever, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding from all body orifices and usually die of shock or respiratory failure or as a result of the massive bleeding, including bleeding in the lungs.
Ebola, which causes death in 50 to 90 percent of all those infected, has no specific treatment or vaccine and is spread by bodily fluids.
More than 1,850 human cases, including 1,200 deaths have been recorded and since the Ebola virus was first identified in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 1,850 human cases, including 1,200 deaths have been recorded. :tiphat:

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>http://www.news-medical.net/?id=33264</TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="BACKGROUND: url(aspvirtualnews/template_images/smalldot.gif)" height=25> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[HenryN]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)

NEWS
8 December 2007 </B>
Posted to the web 10 December 2007
Front Portal

The Catholic Church in Uganda has issued several health guidelines after the death toll from an outbreak of Ebola in the East African country rose to 24, among them eight health workers.
Fort Portal Catholic Diocese, where a 13-year-old boy died from suspected Ebola on Sunday, warned people to stop self-medication and seek help from the nearest health units as soon as they suspect they may have contracted the disease.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=right><!-- Display Google AdManager Ad for 'AllAfrica_Other_Inset'--><SCRIPT language=JavaScript> GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Other_Inset");</SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gampad/ads?correlator=1197247515074&output=json_html&callback=_GA_googleAdEngine.setAdContentsBySlotForSync&impl=s&prev_afc=1&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%252Creligion%26Countries%3Deastafrica%252Cuganda&cookie=ID%3D12eb1897ba9e5266%3AT%3D1196690060%3AS%3DALNI_MYcPugH4NRq_bqTduMuz7P2dTJ5Fw&ga_vid=836489085.1196690017&ga_sid=1197247502&ga_hid=100387192&ga_fc=true&url=http%3A%2F%2Fallafrica.com%2Fstories%2Fprintable%2F200712100001.html&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fallafrica.com%2Fstories%2F200712100001.html&lmt=1197243849&dt=1197247515527&cc=108&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><!--google_ad_client = "pub-2420009840005975";google_ad_width = 160;google_ad_height = 90;google_ad_format = "160x90_0ads_al_s";//2007-11-16: Link Unit (5) 160x90google_color_border = "000000";google_color_bg = "F0F0F0";google_color_link = "0000FF";google_color_text = "000000";google_color_url = "008000";//--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

Health coordinator, Sr. Euphrasia Masika, warned that concealing the disease minimized their chances of getting cured.
Her warning came in the wake of reports that a medical doctor and four health workers, who treated the first Ebola patients in Bundibugyo, have died of the disease.
Dr. Jonah Kule, the medical superintendent of Kikyo Health Centre, succumbed on Tuesday night. He had been quarantined at Mulago Hospital.
Senior Clinical Officer Joshua Kule, Senior Nursing Officer Rose Bulimpikya, Matron Peluce Tabiita and another nurse not yet identified died yesterday in Bundibugyo Hospital, according to senior Clinical Officer James Agaba.
Meanwhile, health ministry sources said yesterday that experts from the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Ministry of Health were assembling the Ebola-testing machine at the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe.
The machine will make testing for Ebola and other haemorrhagic viruses faster and intervention quicker. Currently, samples have to be sent to laboratories in South Africa and the US, causing delays.
The authorities at Buhinga Regional Hospital in Kabarole district said some patients had fled, fearing to contract Ebola. One of the patients who fled was a woman who had been put in isolation at the hospital after she vomited blood.
In Mbarara town, the death of woman at Mbarara University Hospital has forced residents to stop their traditional culture of greeting with a hug and a handshake, fearing the deadly disease. They have resorted to waving at each other.
The management of all banks in the town have instructed their staff to wear protective gloves before handling money from clients.
New Vision
<!-- end story layout piece here --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200712100001.html

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[HenryN]

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Re: FluTrackers : Ebola in Uganda Spreading - Death toll rising

Okay, maybe "new" is the wrong word to be using....
per the CDC (USA) at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/outbreaks/index.htm

The NEW species in Uganda is new because its sequence is VERY different from the four prior Ebola species.

Sequence analysis is NOT a strong suit for ProMed commentators (and this apparently extends to Promed reader / contributors).