The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | World Health Organisation (WHO) standard tests done after a man who had symptoms similar to those of Ebola died in Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, are back, and they are negative.
Blood samples were taken off the suspect on November 26 and sent to Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) for further analysis, with the Ministry of Health together with WHO Uganda confirming today in a statement that “results from the UVRI indicate that the patient was negative by PCR for Ebola and other Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers.”
According to the Ministry of Health and WHO Uganda, the 38-year old male alert case is one of many alert cases received in different health facilities in the western part of the country as a result of the heightened surveillance along all boarder districts.
The Ministry said that any persons that present with any known symptoms of ebola are taken on as an alert case until thorough lab investigations are done.
“The Ministry of Health together with the WHO country office wish to reiterate that there is no confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease in Uganda, and are working tirelessly to keep the country safe from the deadly disease,” the statement concluded.
Uganda, in a first in the world, has embarked on vaccination of front-line health workers neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo, in readiness for any eventuality.
A total of 1,316 front line and healthcare workers in three districts have already been vaccinated against EVD to protect these cadre of people against the deadly disease.
“A number of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) preparatory activities are also going on across all high risk districts,” the statement added.
These include coordination of activities; health facility and community-based EVD surveillance, collection and testing of blood samples from alert cases, capacity building for Infection, Prevention and Control, clinical management, psycho-social care and for safe and dignified burials. Risk communication, community engagement and cross-border surveillance are also going on in many districts.
No Ebola in Uganda, but health workers ready for battle
No cases of Ebola have so far been reported in Uganda, but the authorities are implementing the plan in order to avoid the fatal consequences of previous outbreaks, which saw health workers contract the disease and die as they cared for patients.
WHO said in a statement recently that it is “highly likely” that Ugandans in districts near the border will be infected with the virus, due to their close proximity to the epicentre of the outbreak, and high population movements due to trade, social and cultural connections and the relatively easy access to health services – thus the readiness.
It is the first time the vaccine is used in a country not in the midst of an active Ebola outbreak. It is the tenth outbreak of Ebola in DRC, then called Zaire, where the disease was first detected in 1976.
More than 25,000 people have received the experimental vaccine in the DRC since August.
Joint Release – No Ebola in Kabarole by The Independent Magazine on Scribd
