Re: Uganda: Deadly Ebola Virus Confirmed Near Capital, 1 dead, 30 monitored
Re: Uganda: Deadly Ebola Virus Confirmed Near Capital, 1 dead, 30 monitored
http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,88455
Archive Number 20110516.1489
Published Date 16-MAY-2011
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02): (LW)
EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA (02): (LUWERO)
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Date: 15 May 2011
Source: Xinhua [edited]
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/health/2011-05/15/c_13875099.htm>
The deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever has broken out in Uganda, killing
one person and leaving over 30 others being monitored by health
officials, ministry of health announced here on Saturday [14 May
2011]. The epicenter of the outbreak is in the central Ugandan
district of Luwero, located about 50 km north of the capital Kampala.
According to Anthony Mbonye, head of the community health department
at the Ministry of Health, a 12-year-old girl in Zirombwe Sub-county
developed symptoms of ebolavirus infection, and when she was admitted
at a military hospital in the district, laboratory tests confirmed
that it was an ebolavirus infection.
Ebolaviruses are highly contagious and cause a range of symptoms
including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain or malaise, and
in many cases, internal and external bleeding. The girl died on Fri 6
May 2011, and about 30 people with whom she had contact are being
asked to avoid contact with the public, as health officials monitor
them for about 21 days.
The 30 people have not yet developed any symptoms of ebolavirus
infection, but if they do, they will be isolated from the public.
Mbonye said that preliminary investigations have showed that this
ebolavirus is similar to the one that broke out in Sudan, now named
Sudan ebolavirus. The epicenter of the outbreak is also located along
the highway to southern Sudan. This viral subtype has a human case
fatality rate of 60 percent, meaning that it will kill 60 percent of
infected people.
Another subtype of ebolavirus also appeared in Uganda in 2007. This
[Sudan] one has a human case fatality rate of over 80 percent. The
2007 outbreak which occurred in the western district of Bundibugyo,
bordering eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, claimed [only] 37
lives out of the 148 infected. Mbonye said that there are also ongoing
investigations to find out whether the index case had contact with
moneys or bats, the known reservoirs of ebolaviruses.
Following the outbreak, government has reactivated the National Ebola
Task Force (NETF) to coordinate the fight against the disease at the
national level. District task forces are also in the process of being
formed according to Mbonye, who is the chairperson of the NETF.
Immigration officials at all the country's border posts have been put
on alert, and the neighboring countries have been notified about the
outbreak.
According to Joachim Saweka, a World Health Organization (WHO)
representative here, tight border controls are not yet necessary,
although the immigration officers should be on alert. With some people
reluctant to disclose their exact areas of origin for fear of being
inconvenienced and perhaps quarantined, it remains a challenge how the
immigration staff will handle the situation.
According to Saweka, a team of experts from WHO are also on the way
to Uganda to beef up the team, which is already camped in the affected
district. A ministry of health statement issued on Saturday [14 May
2011] urged the public to stay calm, as all possible measures are
being undertaken to control the situation. The ministry urged the
public to avoid direct contact with body fluids of a person suffering
from ebolavirus infection by using protective materials like gloves
and masks. The public is also urged to bury people who have died of
ebolavirus infection immediately and to avoid feasting and funerals.
The government has also stocked the necessary drugs, supplies and
materials for case management. Isolation facilities have also been set
up in the affected district. "Any claim of somebody bleeding should
not just be disregarded, but the person should be rushed to the
nearest health centre, and then from there, we are already working
with the health system to try to instruct people on how to deal with
these cases," said Saweka.
[Byline: Mu Xuequan]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[If this information is correct,
the case of Ebola hemorrhagic fever
reported from Luwero district is not caused by the novel Ugandan
strain of ebolavirus responsible for the outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic
fever that occurred in Bundibugyo district in 2007.
Taxonomically, the viruses causing Ebola hemorrhagic fever are
classified in the genus _Ebolavirus_ (family _Filoviridae_), which is
comprised of distinct species designated as: _Cote d'Ivoire
ebolavirus_, _Reston ebolavirus_, _Sudan ebolavirus_, and _Zaire
ebolavirus_. The Zaire, Sudan and Bundibugyo ebolavirus species have
been associated with large Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in Africa
with a high case fatality ratio (25-90 percent), while the Cote
d'Ivoire and Reston ebolaviruses have not.
Reston ebolavirus can infect humans, but no serious illness or death
in humans have been reported to date. Human infection with the Reston
ebolavirus, found in the Western Pacific, has only caused asymptomatic
illness, meaning that those who become infected do not experience
clinical illness. The natural reservoir of ebolaviruses seems to
reside in the rain forests of the African continent and in areas of
the Western Pacific.
malaria..
