Date Published: 09/08/2012 12:32
Nurse Kiiza Isaac is no stranger to the deadly Ebola virus – he caught it and survived. Kiiza was infected with a new strain of the virus, named after his home district of Bundibugyo in western Uganda, as he helped fight a outbreak of the disease there in 2007.
Although Kiiza survived the outbreak, Ebola has claimed more than 1,500 lives since its discovery in 1976. The disease is spread via contact with infected bodily fluids and, without a known cure, can cause terror among infected communities.
As Kiiza’s story shows, health workers are often the first to fall victim to the virus. He is now working alongside Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to help others who have contracted the virus in the nearby town of Kagadi, where an outbreak of the disease was declared at the end of July 2012.
Question: Ebola outbreaks are often hard to identify due to the virus’ non-specific symptoms. What happened when the virus broke out in Bundibugyo?
Kiiza Isaac: In August 2007, a strange disease was identified in Bundibugyo. Deaths within the community became rampant and people were going to the health centres with high temperatures, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue. They were not responding to anti-malarial treatment.
What were you doing at the time?
I was working as a nurse at Kikyo health centre, in Bundibugyo district. The Ministry of Health was informed about a strange disease in the area and their epidemiologists came and advised that the patients should be taken to hospitals.
How did people react to the outbreak?
The community did not know what was happening – they thought that the affected were bewitched. This continued until October, when we had 18 people admitted in Kikyo health centre.
Were you in close contact with the patients?
I was collecting blood samples from them. I contracted Ebola because we did not have enough protective equipment to use. But at that time I did not know. I developed the same symptoms as the patients.
Blood samples were taken from me but the malaria test proved negative. I had a persistent fever. I was ill for three weeks. On 19th November 2007, I received the laboratory confirmation – I had contracted Ebola. It was a new strain, not the Sudan or Zaire strain; they named it Bundibugyo Ebola.
How did you become involved with MSF?
MSF came to Bundibugyo and they were running a treatment centre like the one here in Kagadi. Many patients were cared for in their treatment centre. Thank God, I survived.
After my recovery, I joined MSF and the Ministry of Health in the case management of Ebola patients until 2nd February 2008, when Bundibugyo was declared Ebola free.
With Ebola being transmitted through close contact with people, did anyone in your family catch the virus?
I was the head of the household and my infection was not yet confirmed. Three of my children and I contracted Ebola. We all survived.
But a cousin who was also a nurse at Kikyo and was taking care of me also contracted the virus. He was rushed to the hospital and died on 3rd November, before my results were confirmed.
How did your life change after this experience?
When I recovered, I continued treating others and doing psycho-social support until the district was declared free of Ebola. Currently, I am working at Bundibugyo hospital as a nurse.
When the outbreak was declared in Kibaale at the end of July, the World Health Organisation (WHO) requested the district to send a team of seven people who had worked in the isolation centre in 2007. So now I am giving my help to the Ministry of Health and the WHO.
What can patients learn from your story?
We tell patients that this is a disease. It has nothing to do with witchery. They should not fear.
When there is an outbreak, people just need to avoid contact with bodily fluids. But if they recover, after 21 days they are not patients any more – they are free of Ebola.
People should not fear them. They can have a normal life. http://www.msf.org.uk/articledetail.aspx?fId=interview_with_Ebola_survivor_20120809
Kiiza Isaac, a 42-year-old Ugandan nurse who contracted Ebola and survived in 2007.© Agus Morales
As Kiiza’s story shows, health workers are often the first to fall victim to the virus. He is now working alongside Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to help others who have contracted the virus in the nearby town of Kagadi, where an outbreak of the disease was declared at the end of July 2012.
Question: Ebola outbreaks are often hard to identify due to the virus’ non-specific symptoms. What happened when the virus broke out in Bundibugyo?
Kiiza Isaac: In August 2007, a strange disease was identified in Bundibugyo. Deaths within the community became rampant and people were going to the health centres with high temperatures, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue. They were not responding to anti-malarial treatment.
What were you doing at the time?
I was working as a nurse at Kikyo health centre, in Bundibugyo district. The Ministry of Health was informed about a strange disease in the area and their epidemiologists came and advised that the patients should be taken to hospitals.
How did people react to the outbreak?
The community did not know what was happening – they thought that the affected were bewitched. This continued until October, when we had 18 people admitted in Kikyo health centre.
Were you in close contact with the patients?
Emergency logistic coordinator Henry Gray helps a colleague into protective clothing during the Ebola outbreak. © MSF
Blood samples were taken from me but the malaria test proved negative. I had a persistent fever. I was ill for three weeks. On 19th November 2007, I received the laboratory confirmation – I had contracted Ebola. It was a new strain, not the Sudan or Zaire strain; they named it Bundibugyo Ebola.
How did you become involved with MSF?
MSF came to Bundibugyo and they were running a treatment centre like the one here in Kagadi. Many patients were cared for in their treatment centre. Thank God, I survived.
After my recovery, I joined MSF and the Ministry of Health in the case management of Ebola patients until 2nd February 2008, when Bundibugyo was declared Ebola free.
With Ebola being transmitted through close contact with people, did anyone in your family catch the virus?
I was the head of the household and my infection was not yet confirmed. Three of my children and I contracted Ebola. We all survived.
But a cousin who was also a nurse at Kikyo and was taking care of me also contracted the virus. He was rushed to the hospital and died on 3rd November, before my results were confirmed.
How did your life change after this experience?
When I recovered, I continued treating others and doing psycho-social support until the district was declared free of Ebola. Currently, I am working at Bundibugyo hospital as a nurse.
When the outbreak was declared in Kibaale at the end of July, the World Health Organisation (WHO) requested the district to send a team of seven people who had worked in the isolation centre in 2007. So now I am giving my help to the Ministry of Health and the WHO.
What can patients learn from your story?
We tell patients that this is a disease. It has nothing to do with witchery. They should not fear.
When there is an outbreak, people just need to avoid contact with bodily fluids. But if they recover, after 21 days they are not patients any more – they are free of Ebola.
People should not fear them. They can have a normal life. http://www.msf.org.uk/articledetail.aspx?fId=interview_with_Ebola_survivor_20120809
