JOHANNESBURG –The Ugandan government has denied that there has been an outbreak of Ebola in the country following earlier reports in Mubende district in central Uganda, as cases of the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continue to be reported.
"We would like to inform the public that there is no Ebola outbreak in Mubende District or any other part of the country,” Uganda’s Daily Monitor reported State Minister for Health-General Duties, Sarah Opendi as saying.
Opendi said that the earlier report of Ebola in the media was actually a case of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF).
“On the night of May 21, a 35-year-old male from Nkoko sub-county in Bugangaizi county, Kakumiro district presented at Melt Care Clinic with a high fever and vomiting and was admitted for two days,” said Opendi.
As his condition deteriorated he was transferred to Mubende Regional Referral Hospital several days later, put in the hospital’s isolation ward and given intravenous fluids. However, he died the same night.
Tissue samples from the deceased were sent to the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI).
“The attendants of the deceased who included his expectant wife and four others were immediately quarantined and they are closely being monitored. To mitigate any possible exposure from contact with the suspect, all material used by the deceased, including a trolley and beddings were burnt,” she added.
Further measures have been taken by the authorities to prevent the spread of CCHF.