Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, all monitoring completed, outbreak declared over

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative

Well, this explains some of the negative tests:

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/634387-Two-dead-as-cholera--dysentery-hit-Kibaale.html

Two dead as cholera, dysentery hit Kibaale
Publish Date: Aug 22, 2012

Cholera and dystentry outbreak in Kibaale

* Two dead, 14 admitted

* The same district where Ebola struck

By Ismael Kasooha

Residents of Kibaale district will not live settled lives yet even after the deadly Ebola virus was last week declared contained in the area. Now it is a double strike of cholera and dysentery in the same district.

Already, two people have succumbed to the cholera outbreak on the shores of Lake Albert in the western district of the country.

The dead have been identified as Aduba Kabaja, 42, a resident of Kitebere landing site and Peter Kasanga, 50, a resident of Songalawo landing site in Ndaiga sub-county.

Dr. Dana Kyamanywa, the district health officer said that the duo died on the August 13 and August 16 respectively.

"It has been confirmed that it is cholera and we have already set up an isolation unit to treat patients at Ndaiga health centre II at the lake shores," said Kyamanywa.

The two middle-aged men both died at their homes before they could report to the health centre.

So far 14 people are currently admitted at the Cholera Isolation Centre at Ndaiga health centre II in Ndaiga sub-county.

But Dr. Jackson Amony, who is currently the national coordinator of the Ebola taskforce said the isolation centre does not meet the standards of an isolation unit which poses danger in the area.

"The problem is aggravated by the mobility of the communities living on the lake shores and sanitation is very poor and there are no toilets," he explained.

“The air smells of faecal matter as one arrives at the fishing villages, which poses higher health risks.”

[snip]

He said that dysentery was reported some two days back by residents who had suspected it for were Ebola.

[snip]

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative

http://www.ugpulse.com/uganda-news/...-one-remains-in-isolation-facility/26927.aspx

Another Ebola patient dead, only one remains in isolation facility
First published: 20120824 2:20:06 AM EST Share on twitter

Ultimate Media

Another person has succumbed to Ebola after a long battle with the deadly fever at the isolation facility at Kagadi government hospital in Kibaale district.

This brings the total number of people who have died of the deadly hemorrhagic disease to 17. The deceased?s identity has however been withheld by the health ministry.

The ministry?s public relations officer Rukia Nakamatte says since she was admitted in the isolation camp her condition had never improved and her chances of survival were minimal.

Nakamatte adds that the deceased was HIV positive and by the time she contracted Ebola she had just had an abortion thus making her immune system very weak. She says now only one Ebola patient remains admitted at the isolation facility.

Nakamatte adds that 3 suspected Ebola cases are currently undergoing monitoring and their samples have already been taken to the Uganda Virus Research Institute for tests.

[snip]

 

[Catbird]

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative, only one patient remains in isolation facility

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative, only one patient remains in isolation facility

This article from New Vision in Uganda puts the death toll at "over 20".

http://allafrica.com/stories/201208240046.html

"...the donation is aimed at supporting the ongoing efforts by the ministry of health to contain the disease which so far has killed over 20 people since its outbreak last month in Kibaale district and to boost the recovery of the victims."

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative, only one patient remains in isolation facility

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative, only one patient remains in isolation facility

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatche...hone-ebola-patient-uganda-hospital-gets-ebola

Man steals phone from Ebola patient at Uganda hospital, gets Ebola
A man stole a mobile phone from an Ebola patient in an isolation ward at a Western Uganda hospital. The thief ? surprise! ? also became infected with Ebola.

Erin Conway-SmithAugust 26, 2012 14:29

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa ? We'd make fun of this crook, if only we didn't feel a little bad for him.

According to a report from the Sunday Monitor, a man stole a mobile phone from a patient in an isolation ward at Kagadi Hospital, in Western Uganda.

As it turns out, the patient was suffering from Ebola, one of numerous cases in a recent outbreak in Uganda. The patient later died from the hemorrhagic fever. But before dying, he reported the theft of his phone to hospital security, who began investigating.

Police detectives traced the suspected thief, age 40, after he began communicating with friends using the stolen phone.

The Monitor reported that "as police zeroed in on him, he developed symptoms similar to those of Ebola and sought medication at the hospital."

?The suspect is admitted at Kagadi Hospital with clinical signs of Ebola," Dr. Dan Kyamanywa, the Kibaale District Health Officer, told the Monitor.

Ebola virus, which causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is considered one of the world's most terrifying viruses: victims tend to die bloody and painful deaths, bleeding from every orifice.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni warned in a televised broadcast that people should refrain from physical contact like shaking hands, casual sex and do-it-yourself burials to reduce the chance of contracting Ebola.

And from stealing cell phones, evidently.

[snip]

 

[alert]

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative, only one patient remains in isolation facility

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative, only one patient remains in isolation facility

Here's the article that blog refers to. Simply amazing:

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Natio...fected/-/688334/1487020/-/51lndn/-/index.html

Man steals phone from Ebola patient, gets infected

Posted Sunday, August 26 2012 at 01:00

Kibaale

Security and medical officials in Kibaale District have registered a case in which a man allegedly went in an isolation ward at Kagadi Hospital and stole a cellular phone from one of the Ebola patients.

The 40-year-old resident of Kyakabugahya LCI in Kagadi Town Council travelled about three kilometers to the hospital to apparently obtain a phone estimated to be valued at Shs60,000 more than two weeks ago.

The suspect allegedly broke into the isolation ward on the night of Tuesday August 14, undetected by hospital guards. The patient, who has since succumbed to the deadly hemorrhagic fever, then reported the theft to the hospital security that then embarked on tracing the alleged thief.

Police detectives began tracking him after he apparently began communicating to his friends using the phone. But as police zeroed in on him, he developed symptoms similar to those of Ebola and sought medication at the hospital.

While at hospital he reportedly confessed stealing the phone and has handed it to Kagadi police.
“Kagadi Police Station received that complaint and investigations are underway,” Mr John Ojokuna Elatu, the district police commander confirmed to Sunday Monitor. He, however, declined to reveal the identities of the suspect.

Confession
In his confession made to the police, the suspect, now patient, claimed he had visited the isolation ward to give them comfort although he confessed to knowing none in person.

The Kibaale District Health Officer, Dr Dan Kyamanywa, said: “The suspect is admitted at Kagadi Hospital with clinical signs of Ebola.” “He is receiving medication. We have obtained samples from him,” Mr Kyamanywa added. The Uganda Virus Research Institute had by press time not returned results of his tests.

The district Ebola taskforce on Wednesday registered four members of one family with symptoms similar to those of Ebola. The residents of Ngara LCI in Kyanaisoke Sub-county are in an isolation ward at Kagadi Hospital.

The number of patients discharged from hospital stands at 53 and 40 are being followed up. The taskforce vice chairman, Mr Stephen Mfashigabo, said over 380 contacts on Wednesday completed 21 days of follow up and have been declared Ebola negative.

 

[Emily]

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

I wonder if he realized it was the ebola ward? Now they know security needs to be increased.

This article reports about how recovered patients suspected to have had ebola are being stigmatized - even if they tested negative:

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Ebola+patients+bounce+back+to+good+health+but+suffer+stigma/-/688334/1481712/-/jo7guxz/-/index.html

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

The second article, from the Monitor, indicates in his confession that he told the nurses he was visiting the isolation ward to give comfort to the patients, in order to gain access to the ward. That suggests he knew it was an isolation ward.

I think he knew full well what he was doing. He probably didn't realize the risk to him. Clearly, one of the stupidest moves I have ever heard of. It would not surprise me if this incident ended up on the late-night talk shows worldwide. Steal a cell phone, get Ebola...

One of the amusing comments on one of the various versions of the article includes the observation that antivirus software won't remove the virus from that smart phone.

This also resets the 21 day clock since the isolation of the last case, delaying the containment of this outbreak by nearly three weeks.

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...ola-virus-swiped-cell-phone-article-1.1145232

[snip]

While at the hospital, the man admitted to sneaking in and stealing the phone, which is worth about 60,000 Ugandan shillings, or around $24.

[snip]

 

[Vibrant62]

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

This case also highlights the fomite transmission potential of Ebola.

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

From the moderator comments on:

http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20120826.270963

The Ebola death toll has risen to 17 since the initial probable case was reported on 11th June 2012. Recent reports indicate that all the remaining Ebola confirmed cases have been discharged and there is none currently admitted in the isolation facility.

[But we know there are several probable, if not confirmed, cases in isolation, including the cell phone bandit. - alert]

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Natio...a+free/-/688334/1488356/-/92gk79/-/index.html

Medical workers start count to declare Kibaale Ebola-free

Posted Tuesday, August 28 2012 at 01:00
In Summary

The last confirmed cases were discharged on Friday while a man who reportedly entered into an isolation ward at Kagadi Hospital and stole a phone from an Ebola patient was also discharged.


Kibaale

Medical officials in Kibaale at the weekend began counting 21 days within which the district will be declared Ebola-free if they do not register any new cases.

The district health officer, Dr Dan Kyamanywa, said the counting started after all suspected and confirmed Ebola patients were discharged from Kagadi Hospital.

Also discharged was a 40-year-old resident of Kyakabugahya Village in Kagadi Town Council who reportedly stealthily entered into an isolation ward at Kagadi hospital and stole a phone from one of the Ebola patients who succumbed to the disease.

He developed Ebola-like symptoms after he started using the phone which an Ebola patient had used.
?He tested negative, received medication and has been discharged,? Dr Kyamanywa said. He may have survived the highly contagious disease but he is not yet off the criminal hook.

The district police commander, Mr John Ojokuna Elatu, said detectives are following him up over theft charges. ?The file was opened at Kagadi Police and it is active,? Mr Ojokuna said.

This newspaper had by press time confirmed that the suspect had not been arrested by police.

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Very lucky man. How do we explain this?

Obviously, the man did not contract Ebola. Could his illness have just been unrelated to his exposure? I've never seen transmission of Ebola through a hard object like a cell phone, which typically does not absorb and hold bodily fluids. Maybe he just had some other disease within a couple weeks of his Ebola exposure.

Alternatively, maybe the owner of the phone died of something other than Ebola, which he passed on to the thief via the phone. We don't have confirmation whether the owner of the phone was a confirmed case or just a suspected one. But whatever it would be, it would have to be potentially fatal and cotnagious. Cholera or dysentery have already been reported in Kibaale (see above) and might make good suspects in that scenario.

Either way, the original isolation date of the most recent confirmed case remains as it was before.

 

[James S]

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

The man travelled just over a mile on from his home in Kibaale District, Uganda, before entering the isolation unit at Kagadi Hospital.

Once there he snatched the phone ? worth around ?15 (60,000 Ugandan shillings) ? before leaving without being challenged by hospital guards.

The patient, who has since died, reported the theft to security staff as soon as he found it had gone.

Police were able to track him down after he started to use the phone.
But by that stage he was already desperately sick. He went to the hospital where he had stolen the phone and was diagnosed with ebola.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ent-diagnosed-deadly-virus.html#ixzz24qUsX7Pf



Although Ebola virus (EBOV) is transmitted by unprotected physical contact with infected persons, few data exist on which specific bodily fluids are infected or on the risk of fomite transmission. Therefore, we tested various clinical specimens from 26 laboratory-confirmed cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, as well as environmental specimens collected from an isolation ward, for the presence of EBOV.

Virus was detected by culture and/or reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction in 16 of 54 clinical specimens (including saliva, stool, semen, breast milk, tears, nasal blood, and a skin swab) and in 2 of 33 environmental specimens.We conclude that EBOV is shed in a wide variety of bodily fluids during the acute period of illness but that the risk of transmission from fomites in an isolation ward and from convalescent patients is low when currently recommended infection control guidelines for the viral hemorrhagic fevers are followed.

http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/196/Supplement_2/S142.short

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

WHO photo essay on this outbreak:

Kagadi Hospital is the centre of operations for responding to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda?s Kibaale district. The District Ebola Task force?of which partners such as WHO, M?decins Sans Fronti?res, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are members?meets there daily. They discuss the situation, how best to treat patients and contain the disease.


http://www.who.int/features/2012/ebola/photo_story/en/index.html

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

It is unfortunately amazing how many international sources are continuing to report the discarded cell phone case.

A Google News search for the words "Ebola" and "phone" currently returns 5,890 results.

Apart from the thread, I cannot find any other media organization worldwide that has found and reported on the local report in the Daily Monitor discarding the case.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

It is unfortunately amazing how many international sources are continuing to report the discarded cell phone case.

A Google News search for the words "Ebola" and "phone" currently returns 5,890 results.

Apart from the thread, I cannot find any other media organization worldwide that has found and reported on the local report in the Daily Monitor discarding the case.

Hype is more interesting and sells more advertising than the boring truth.

We are not owned by anyone and accept no advertising so we are free to follow the facts where ever they lead.

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Fortunately, ProMED has now picked up the cell phone story, and has issued a post containing the statement that case has been discarded:

http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20120829.271790

But on the unfortunate side, TIME Magazine has published a rather disgraceful article reporting the case calling it karma:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/29/man-steals-phone-from-ebola-patient-gets-ebol/

And the Huffington Post has also published an article reporting the case as though it were confirmed:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/ebola-phone-theft-steals-infected-patient_n_1832927.html

A Google News search for the words "Ebola" and "phone" now yields 39,700 results.

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Natio...ttack/-/688334/1490770/-/hift7vz/-/index.html

Schools re-open after Ebola attack

More than 200 schools that were indefinitely closed in Kibaale District following the outbreak of Ebola, have been allowed to re-open for the third term after all cases of the disease were discharged from Kagadi Hospital.

?After consultation with World Health Organisation, the ministries of Health and Education, the district has cleared markets and schools to resume normal operations,? Mr Stephen Mfashingabo, the vice chairperson of the district Ebola task force, said on Wednesday.

[snip]

 

[alert]

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Given the false reports about the cell phone bandit, I post this with some doubt. If it's true, it's another shockingly bad idea.

Mulago Hospital is in Kampala, and there shouldn't be any Ebola cases in the isolation unit there, so perhaps the risk isn't as great as it seems.

http://www.ugandapicks.com/2012/08/woman-steals-baby-from-mulago-hides-it-in-ebola-unit-68681.html

Woman Steals Baby from Mulago ,Hides it in Ebola Unit
Posted by suzank on August 29, 2012 0 Comment
By Ahura Mujuni Mark

There was drama and agony in Mulago referal hospital on Monday when a woman stole a newly born baby from an ailing mother and hid with it in an Ebola isolation facility.

Ms Safina Birabwa lost her baby shortly after delivering .The suspect who hails from Kasubi, Rubaga Division in Kampala reportedly came near her bed and carried her baby ,she then sneaked out of the room leaving her small bag which acted as her scapegoat with Birabwa.

After realizing that the suspect was missing with her child ,Birabwa called her husband that her child had been stolen. She later fainted and police began the search for the suspect .fainted

Assistant Inspector of Mulago Police Station, Mr Richard Okello, said he received information and dispatched policemen to major entrances of the hospital to check all women leaving the hospital with babies and whether they had discharge forms or not.

“The suspect was found hiding at the Ebola Isolation Unit with the baby.” He said

[snip]

 

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Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

http://www.observer.ug/index.php?op...are-away-tourists&catid=38:business&Itemid=68

Ebola headlines scare away tourists Business

Tuesday, 21 August 2012 21:54 Written by Alon Mwesigwa 0 Comments When one American woman ? who we shall refer to as Rebecca - travelled from Kampala to Nairobi in early August to visit her American friends, she was surprised at how tepid her hosts were. It did not take her long to figure out why her usually jolly American friends were, this time round, a bit lukewarm towards her. ?Are you sure you don?t have Ebola,? Rebecca remembers one of her friends asking her.

She laughed. In reply, she touched all her friends, and said ?Now you have Ebola, and you, and you...? While Rebecca might have taken the Ebola outbreak in Uganda rather lightly, some companies and countries consider the matter so serious that they issued health warnings about those who intend to travel to Uganda ? a campaign that has hurt Uganda?s tourism industry.

?Yes, the industry (tourism) has been affected. Today such countries as Poland and Australia have asked their citizens not to travel to Uganda [mainly as a result of the Ebola outbreak],? Boniface Byamukama, chairman of the Uganda Tour Operators Ltd told The Observer.

?Between 5-10% of the tourists called off their trips, with thousands postponing their travels to Uganda to a later day,? he added.

A reliable source has told The Observer that some international companies like Standard Bank in South Africa, the parent company of Stanbic Bank Uganda, cautioned its employees to limit travels to Uganda, even as the World Health Organisation says there is no cause for alarm.

International media has made matters even more difficult. While the outbreak was mainly reported in Kibaale ? more than 200 kilometres away from the capital Kampala ? international media reported about the disease like it had spread to every corner of the country.

For example, AFP had a screaming headline Deadly Ebola Outbreak in Ugandan capital, describing the death of a victim who had travelled from Kibaale and died in Kampala ? the only such case to be reported in the capital - as ?fatal.?

The Ebola story has been carried from the mighty international media houses such as the New York Times, BBC and the Guardian, to the locally focused papers like the Chicago Sun Times and Pittsburg Tribune Review.

And while Ebola had largely been contained in Uganda after claiming about 16 lives, a new outbreak in neighbouring DRC, where many Ugandans go for trade, has cast a darker shadow over Uganda?s tourism industry.

[snip]