Uganda has formally declared an end to its most recent Ebola epidemic, with the country’s Health Minister saying the nation is now free of the deadly virus after completing the mandated monitoring period without any new cases.
Uganda officially ends Ebola outbreak after weeks of containment efforts
- Uganda has officially declared an end to its latest Ebola outbreak after no new cases were reported following a monitoring period.
- The outbreak, which started in May, infected 20 people and caused 2 deaths before being contained by health authorities.
- Most Ugandan cases were linked to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which remains the epicenter with over 3,000 confirmed cases.
- This outbreak involved the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is harder to manage due to the lack of a targeted vaccine or treatment.
The outbreak, which began in mid-May, infected 20 individuals and killed two before health officials were able to limit it through monitoring, contact tracing, and treatment procedures.
“Throughout this period, the Ministry of Health maintained intensive surveillance nationwide , and no new Ebola cases have been detected,” Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi said.
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While Uganda has contained the epidemic, the adjacent Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is still dealing with a far greater Ebola catastrophe.
Of the 20 infections linked to Uganda’s most recent epidemic, 15 were related to cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, underscoring the disease’s close cross-border nature, as seen on Reuters.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo remains the core of the regional outbreak, with <a href="https://absafricatv9491.live-website.com/europe-is-losing-more-than-e50-billion-annually/” title=”Europe is losing more than €50 billion annually”>more than 3,000 confirmed Ebola cases, highlighting the region’s ongoing public health crisis.
The Ebola outbreak in some parts of Eastern Africa has constituted a multi-layered problem ranging from visa restrictions to controversial quarantine centers to strange virus strains and fatalities.
The recent Ebola outbreak stemming fromthe Democratic Republic of Congo came with word of an old strain called Bundibugyo, identified over a decade ago.
Unlike the Zaire type of Ebola, which has vaccines and treatments, the Bundibugyo variant is more difficult to tackle.
Health experts believe the lack of an approved vaccination that precisely targets the strain restricts the options available to combat the outbreak.
The Bundibugyo strain was originally identified in Uganda in 2007 and has resulted in fewer outbreaks than other Ebola strains.
However, earlier outbreaks have shown that the virus may still cause large mortality if not recognized and contained immediately.
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World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a daily press briefing on COVID-19 at the WHO headquarters on March 11, 2020 in Geneva.99533aba-26af-4cbd-8ce4-057d2612c0ac
In response to the outbreak, the World Health Organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in May established a $518 million six-month plan to improve surveillance, laboratory testing, treatment facilities, and contact-tracing activities.
International allies, notably the United States, promised more funding to assist in limiting the spread. However, the country also issued travel bans to the affected regions and urged other Western governments to follow suit, to which Canada obliged.
Concerning the virus’s spread, WHO authorities maintain the likelihood of broad international transmission is still low.
Despite this, in June, France confirmed its first imported case linked to the new strain, marking the virus’s first known spread beyond the continent since the latest outbreak began.
