Ebola outbreak declared in Uganda, 1 dead

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An outbreak of Ebola has been declared in Uganda after health authorities confirmed a case of the relatively rare Sudan strain, the health ministry and World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

A 24-year-old man in Uganda's central Mubende district showed symptoms and later died.

The health ministry's permanent secretary, Diana Atwine, said the patient with the confirmed case had high fever, diarrhea and abdominal pains and was vomiting blood. He had initially been treated for malaria.

EAST CONGO WILL BEGIN EBOLA VACCINATIONS AFTER NEW CASE REPORTED

Health measures are being taken at the Mubende Regional Referral Hospital after an Ebola outbreak occurred in Mubende, Uganda, on Sept. 20, 2022.  (Nicholas Kajoba/Anadolu Agency)

There are currently eight suspected cases receiving care in a health facility, WHO's Africa office said in a statement, adding that it was helping Uganda's health authorities with their investigation and deploying staff to the affected area.

The WHO said there had been seven previous outbreaks of the Ebola Sudan strain, four in Uganda and three in Sudan.

It said Uganda last reported an outbreak of Ebola Sudan strain in 2012 and an outbreak of the Ebola Zaire strain in 2019.

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The WHO said ring vaccination of high-risk people with the Ervebo vaccine had been highly effective in controlling the spread of Ebola in recent outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere but that this vaccine had only been approved to protect against the Zaire strain.

Another vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N may be effective but has yet to be specifically tested against the Sudan strain, it added.