Uganda is optimistic in its efforts to control the latest outbreak of Ebola virus that was confirmed late last month.
The number of confirmed cases has risen to nine from three. The latest outbreak is being driven by the Sudan strain of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine.
Uganda's health ministry said in a statement late on Monday that of the nine confirmed cases one person had died, seven were being treated in a hospital in the capital Kampala and one was in a hospital in the eastern city of Mbale, near the Kenyan border.
The ministry said “the situation is under control” amid heightened surveillance.
Stable condition
All eight patients are in a stable condition, and 265 contacts of the confirmed cases have been placed under quarantine, the ministry said.
Uganda has launched a trial vaccination programme against the Sudan strain of Ebola, the World Health Organization said this month.
Existing vaccines are for the Zaire strain of Ebola, which was behind recent outbreaks in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The last outbreak of Ebola in Uganda, which began in September 2022, killed at least 55 people by the time it was declared over four months later.
Ebola is spread by contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.
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