New Ebola cases confirmed in Uganda
Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:45 GMT
FAMILIES are living in fear of a deadly Ebola outbreak in rural Uganda, reports children’s charity Plan International.
The highly infectious disease has claimed five lives with two more confirmed cases in Luwero, about 40 miles north of the capital Kampala.
A further 11 suspected patients, including two children, are being treated, while 40 villagers are being monitored after coming into contact with the dead or hospitalised.
The first victims were a 29-year-old, father-of-three motorcycle taxi rider, his wife and 40-year-old sister.
About 44,000 villagers are deemed to be at risk from the disease in a poor and remote farming region.
“After two days of admission with no improvement at a community health centre, the motor bicycle taxi rider was transferred to a military hospital,” says Plan’s Country Health Specialist Dr Kenneth Buyinza.
“He had high grade fever, bloody diarrhoea and was vomiting blood and sadly died two days later.
“A few days after the taxi rider’s burial, his wife and sister were also taken ill and later succumbed to the same illness. People are worried because they’re not sure who they’ve come in contact with.”
Initial efforts to contain the outbreak have been challenged by a myth it is the work of witchcraft.
One woman was admitted to the military hospital in Luwero from a traditional healer’s home, where she went for remedies.
“In a bid to trace people who had contact with the deceased taxi rider, the district task force on Ebola visited his fellow riders but all of them thought that ‘bad people’ in the community sent the disease by powers of witchcraft,” says Dr Buyinza.
“One of the myths common in the rural areas of Uganda is that loved ones fall sick because of witchcraft.
“Quite often people with such belief, lose valuable time in seeking traditional interventions in the community, only to report to the formal health facilities too late,” he adds.
Travel is restricted to the district at the centre of the outbreak, though schools and other places of public gathering such as markets are still open.
A specialist health taskforce was immediately dispatched to the area by the government to help contain the outbreak.
“The Ministry of Health has moved fast and beefed up all the necessary measures to control the spread of this highly contagious disease,” adds Dr Buyinza.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/new-ebola-cases-confirmed-in-uganda
