11/4/2022 Health Care Worker Ebola Fatality at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital
11/4/2022 WHO Africa Ebola Report #42
11/4/2022 Uganda says Ebola outbreak death toll rises to 48 (Reuters) The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in Uganda has risen to 48, with 131 confirmed cases, a health official involved in managing the outbreak said on Thursday. Last week Uganda’s health minister put the death toll at 30, with 109 confirmed cases. “Confirmed cases by today 131 and 48 deaths,” Henry Kyobe Bosa, Ebola incident commander at Uganda’s health ministry, told a briefing organised by the World Health Organization’s Africa office.
11/3/2022 Masaka records first Ebola death Masaka City on Wednesday recorded its first Ebola death after one of the two patients earlier admitted at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital succumbed to the deadly virus hours after being evacuated to Entebbe treatment centre. According to the hospital principal administrator, Mr Charles Tumushime, the female victim first suffered a miscarriage as she was receiving treatment at St. Joseph’s Clinic in Kimaanya, Masaka City before she was referred to the regional health facility in critical condition.
11/3/2022 Katikkiro warns locals against exhuming bodies (Monitor) The Prime Minister (Katikkiro) of Buganda, Mr Charles Peter Mayiga, has warned the public against exhuming bodies of Ebola victims to perform cultural and religious rituals, saying it puts theirs and other people’s lives at risk.
Related: Bodies exhumed to perform rituals
11/3/2022 23 infected with Ebola after exhuming body (Monitor) “About two weeks ago, our teams buried someone in Kalwana Village, Kikandwa Sub-county, who had succumbed to Ebola but the locals waited for them to leave and at night, they exhumed the body and performed burial rituals on it. Since bodies of those who have died from Ebola are highly infectious, many people were infected,” Dr Bwire told a meeting on Ebola response in the district yesterday. Related Video
11/1/2022 WHO Africa Report #40
10/28/2022 WHO Situation Report #38
10/27/2022 Twelve new cases of Ebola in the Kassanda District (Uganda MoH) In the last 24 hours, Kassanda District recorded 12 new Ebola Cases amongst constants who were under follow up. An Ebola Treatment Unit will be established in Kassanda District to enable handling of the cases within the District.
10/26/2022 Six children in same Uganda family catch Ebola (BBC) The six siblings got infected after a relative came to stay from one of the country’s worst-affected districts, and later died, health authorities confirm. Since the outbreak began in September, Uganda’s health ministry has recorded 109 cases and 30 deaths. As of Monday, 15 of those deaths were in Kampala. The six siblings who tested positive for Ebola in the capital have not been named or had their ages revealed, to protect their identities. But we do know that the schools these children attend have not been closed.
10/26/2022 MORE KAMPALA EBOLA CASES: Six pupils in Rubaga isolated (NTV)
10/25/2022 Kawaala Health Center III Registers Five Suspected Ebola Cases (Uganda Radio Network) In a separate interview with URN on Monday, the Ebola incident commander at Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA Dr. Alex Ndyaabakira said that all health facilities had been instructed to establish a waiting area where suspected or confirmed Ebola cases would be held before they are evacuated to the treatment center in Entebbe or the isolation centers in Mulagoa and Naguru Hospitals.
10/25/2022 Uganda’s capital sees troubling increase in Ebola cases (DW) Video Update
10/24/2022 15 cases of Ebola in Kampala, seven from one family in Masanafu (NTV) The Ministry of Health is treating seven members of one family who tested positive for Ebola in Kampala after they came into contact with a relative who travelled from Kassanda district before it was locked down just over a week ago. The Director General of Health Services, Dr. Henry Mwebesa, says the seven had already been isolated by the time their tests returned positive for Ebola.
10/24/2022 More safe burial teams will be dispatched to Mubende – Authorities (NTV)
Residents of Mubende district are complaining that the teams assigned to collect blood samples to test for Ebola and conduct burials in the district are not doing it on time. They say that because of this delay, they are forced to keep the bodies for days. However, district and health officials point out that the teams assigned to this role are small and overwhelmed.
10/21/2022 Kassandra District, Uganda “dead bodies overwhelming” (NTV Uganda)
10/20/2022 Virus research centre resumes Ebola testing (Monitor) The Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) in Entebbe has resumed Ebola testing after the Ministry of Health had blocked it two weeks ago.
Prof Pontiano Kaleebu, the UVRI executive director, said they had now resolved the matter with the ministry. “There were some misunderstandings which we have sorted. We had a good meeting last week on Friday with the minister and other partners and we agreed on moving forward. UVRI is back to testing many samples coming from Kampala but also continues to be the reference laboratory to support the mobile lab,” Prof Kaleebu said on Tuesday.
10/18/2022 Ebola misinformation, perceptions fueling fear of hospitals (NTV) Residents in Ebola-affected areas of Mubende District claim that they are reluctant to seek Ebola treatment in hospitals and other health centres for fear of losing their vital body organs at the hand of unscrupulous health workers. They also think that the disease is related to witchcraft. These were some of the concerns that emerged as a high-powered team from the health ministry led by the Minister, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng meet with the residents to sensitize them on Ebola prevention guidelines.
10/17/2022 Ebola kills fifth health worker in Uganda (Monitor) Dr John Grace Walugembe succumbed to the disease late Sunday. Dr Walugembe, a laboratory technician at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital is the fifth health worker to die from Ebola. On October 10, the Mubende Ebola task force together with a health surveillance team closed Dr Walugembe’s clinic over attending to a woman who later died from his clinic with signs and symptoms of Ebola. “We closed the clinic which had been attending to Ebola suspects after a woman died from that clinic bleeding from the mouth and nose on October 9, 2022. Dr Walugembe tested positive for Ebola, and by the time of his death, he was receiving treatment from Mubende Regional Referral Hospital.
10/16/2022 Confirmed positive case of 7 year old student in Mubende (Monitor) Confirmed positive Ebola case for a seven-year-old pupil, but the surveillance and medical teams will continue to closely monitor the health of the other pupils at the same school.
10/15/2022 Two Ebola cases keep Kampala in crosshairs (Monitor) The Health ministry has linked the two cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Kampala to initial cases of the disease in Mubende District, the epicentre. One of the patients, a 45-year-old man from Mubende, died at Kiruddu hospital in Kampala this week after escaping from Mubende, where he had been listed as a contact and was being followed up. The second patient, the wife of the 45-year-old man, tested positive for Ebola after delivering at Kitebi Health Centre IV in Kampala. At least 42 contacts of the patients have been listed in Kampala and more than 10 health workers, who handled the two patients, have been isolated at the Mulago isolation centre. “She is a listed contact of her husband, but also a contact to her husband’s brother. She was listed as a contact in Mubende and, therefore, remains a case of Mubende,” Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health minister, said.
10/14/2022 New Ebola case is widow of man who died in Kiruddu hospital (NTV) Minister for Health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has confirmed that the woman who delivered at Kitebi Health Centre 4 tested positive for Ebola. In an audio message, Dr Aceng explains that the woman was already listed as a contact of a man who died at Kiruddu Hospital on the 7th of this month.
10/13/2022 Uganda warns traditional healers not to treat sick people after Ebola outbreak (The National News) Uganda has ordered traditional healers to stop treating sick people to try to halt the spread of Ebola. “Witch doctors, traditionalists and herbalists should not accept sick people now. Suspend what you are doing,” Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in a televised speech on Wednesday.
10/12/2022 How Ebola victim moved from Mubende to Kampala (Monitor) the deceased escaped from Mubende about a week ago and went to Luweero District. He later went Natete in Kampala. On October 6, he was taken to Kiruddu Hospital where he died on October 7. He was buried in Mubende. Members of the family don’t want to go to the hospital. Fifteen people from the same family have been taken into forced isolation after resisting and attacking the Ebola surveillance and burial team.
10/12/2022 Traditional healers launch drive to prevent spread of Ebola (NTV)The work of traditional healers and witch doctors has come under sharp focus following reports that after the Ebola outbreak in Mubende District, some of those who contracted the deadly disease sought help from witch doctors and herbalists. This not only delayed treatment but also led to the further spread of the disease. Now, the leader of traditional healers in Uganda Sylvia Namutebi also known as Mama Fiina says they will embark on a sensitization drive to awaken Ugandans to the fact that Ebola is a dangerous disease that can only be treated at a medical facility under strict conditions.
10/12/2022 Uganda, WHO to Try Two Vaccines for Rare Ebola Virus Strain (VOA) Uganda and the World Health Organization are planning to try out two vaccines for the Ebola Sudan virus to try and curb the spread of the rare strain. The virus has so far killed 19 people and infected at least 54 people in five districts in Uganda. After meetings in Kampala, the WHO’s director general described the new outbreak as troubling. Uganda hosted ministers from 11 countries in an emergency one-day meeting Wednesday to align their preparation for and response to Ebola outbreaks and agree on a strategy for collaboration.
10/11/2022 Witchcraft failing Ebola fight NTV Uganda – Mubende district Ebola Task force together with security officials have forcefully evacuated 15 people from the same family in Mubende and taken them to an isolation center after the family lost seven people suspected to have been Ebola patients. The 15 are said to have been in close contact with the deceased. Resident District Commissioner for Mubende, Rosemary Byabasaija has asked taxi operators to ensure that they have temperature guns and desist from overloading.
10/11/2022 Uganda – Ebola outbreak, update Relief Web – As of 9 October, the Ministry of Health reports 48 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) confirmed cases in 5 districts (Mubende: 40; Kyegegwa: 3; Kasanda: 3; Kagadi: 1; Bunyangabu: 1), with 4 new EVD confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, all from Mubende district. There are 37 deaths (17 EVD confirmed, 20 probable) and 14 recoveries. 10 healthcare workers infections have been reported, with 4 deaths. 1,110 cumulative contacts listed of which 657 are under active follow-up with a follow up rate of 95% in the last 24 hours. National and local authorities as well as partners are mobilised to scale up the operational response, which faces critical challenges including the low stocks of response supplies; difficulties for contact tracing, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), information management and coordination; delays in laboratory results upload; mobile laboratory in need of furnishing; insufficient community engagement; and gaps in human resources and logistics.
10/11/2022 Ebola claims seven lives in three days New Vision – Ayinebyoona said most of the people that have died were from Mubende district, which remains the epicentre of Ebola Virus Disease. Ayinebyoona said most of the people that have died were from Mubende district, which remains the epicentre of Ebola Virus Disease.
10/11/2022 Health minister to clarify on conflicting Ebola figures KFM – Health minister, Dr. Jane Aceng is this afternoon expected to address the media and give formal clarification on the conflicting figures of Ebola deaths, infections, and recoveries. According to the ministry spokesperson, Emmanuel Ayinebyoona, the move has been prompted by some rumors that are making rounds on social media.
10/10/2022 Mubende ETC Staffing Precision Vaccinations – Seventeen health workers are working at Mubende’s Ebola treatment center, including two doctors, two clinical officers, and 13 nurses. “We plan to bring in six additional health workers and to train health workers from the Uganda People’s Defence Force who could be deployed to other regions in case the (SUDV) outbreak spreads further,” commented Dr. Paska Apiyo in a WHO media statement on October 10, 2022.
10/10/22 Kampala Registers First Ebola Case as Ministry of Health Stays Silent The Eagle –
10/10/22 Minister Aceng blocks UVRI from Ebola testing Monitor – The Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, has blocked Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) from overseeing the testing of the Ebola virus, this newspaper has learnt.Highly placed sources in the government confirmed to this publication that the minister has given the powers of testing of Ebola to Kampala-based Central Public Health Laboratories (CPHL), which is directly under the Health ministry. UVRI, the country’s top virus research centre, is mandated by the government to monitor and conduct research on viral diseases and other infectious agents.
10/7/2022 Situation ‘very serious’ as east African country grapples with outbreak of Sudan strain of virus Guardian – Twenty-nine people, including four health workers, have died since the outbreak was declared in the district on 20 September. Dr Christopher Mambula, programme manager for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Uganda, said the situation was “very serious”. Cases were rising daily and it was still unclear how widely the virus had spread, he said, adding that the lack of a vaccine to treat the strain of Ebola responsible for the outbreak – the Sudan virus – was a concern. Health workers have also said they are concerned the disease could spread to refugee camps. Mubende, about three hours’ drive from the capital, Kampala, lies along a highway to DRC. Along this route are several refugee settlements, housing at least 200,000 of Uganda’s 1.5 million refugees.
10/6/2022 Uganda to Receive Trial Vaccine Against Ebola Sudan Strain Uganda Radio Network – Uganda is set to receive a hundred doses of a trial vaccine being developed to prevent the Ebola Sudan strain. Dr. Tegnen Woldermariam revealed this on Thursday at a weekly WHO Africa press conference. He explained that there are two trial drugs being studied whose safety data have been obtained for the strain but the country is set to receive one that is in more advanced stages. The trial vaccine will be provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Sabin Vaccine Institute. Continue reading
10/6/22 WHO Confirms 10 Ugandan Health Workers Now Dead From Ebola Barron’s – The World Health Organization’s representative to Uganda, Dr. Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, confirms the death of another Ugandan health worker, bringing the total number killed by the Ebola virus in the country to 10.
10/6/22 (Video below) The United States Agency for International development-USAID has supported the ministry of health with a consignment of infection control material to help in curbing the spread of the Ebola Virus disease. The minister for health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng received the consignment from the USAID Mission director Richard Nelson at the ministry of health headquarters and commended USAID for supporting Uganda’s health sector.
10/6/2022 Ebola Treatment Unit has been completed in Madudu health centre lll IFRC Twitter – teams are doing contact tracing in communities and encouraging continued individual care. They are also referring anyone exhibiting Ebola symptoms to visit the nearest health facility.
10/6/2022 South Sudan cabinet approves $30 million for Ebola fight Sudan Tribune – South Sudan cabinet has approved an additional $30 million to establish mechanisms needed to prevent the spread of Ebola from neighboring Uganda. The plan was approved so that laboratories are set up along borders. Anybody who comes is subjected to testing, investigated and they are left to go. If anybody is suspected then they are subjected to the necessary attention. We got only one suspected case in the isolation centers at the border and most of those cases are in stable condition. We have collected their samples, and we have sent them to be analysed, and we are still waiting for the results,.
10/6/2022 CDC, WHO, Uganda to host regional meeting as Ebola spreads Spectrum News – The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Uganda next week will host a ministerial meeting on the outbreak of the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus which has no proven vaccine and has caused alarm in the East Africa region. Acting director Ahmed Ogwell told journalists on Thursday the three countries that suffered the devastating West Africa outbreak of Ebola in 2014-16, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, also are invited to the Oct. 12 meeting. The current Ebola outbreak in central Uganda has a 69% case fatality rate, which Ogwell called “very high,” and four health workers are among 10 people confirmed to have died of Ebola. There have been 43 confirmed cases. None have been in the capital, Kampala. Ugandan scientists and their partners abroad are looking to deploy one of two possible vaccines against the Sudan strain of Ebola, the WHO representative to Uganda told reporters Thursday. But there are only 100 doses of the vaccine from the Sabin Vaccine Insitute, said Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam.
10/5/22 Fourth Uganda Health Worker Dies as Ebola Spreads – Voice of America – Uganda’s ministry of health says a fourth health worker has died from the spreading Ebola outbreak that has killed 11 people. The outbreak of the Sudan strain of the virus began in September but health authorities are also testing a suspected case of the Zaire strain. Fifty-eight-year-old Margaret Nabisubi, an anesthetic officer, is Uganda’s fourth health worker to succumb to the deadly Ebola Sudan virus. Nabisubi reportedly battled the disease for 17 days. Dr. Sam Oledo, the president of the Uganda Medical Association, says Nabisubi was to retire in two years. The Uganda Medical Association has been spearheading a call to Uganda’s ministry of health to provide adequate protective gear to health workers and says there has been a good response. Oledo describes the state of hospitalized health workers. Uganda registered its first case of the Ebola Sudan strain September 20th in the Mubende district and the disease has spread to four other districts, Kassanda, Kyegegwa, Bunyangabu and now Kagadi.
10/5/22 South Sudan: Two Ebola Alerts in Nimule Test Negative The Tower Post –
The South Sudanese Ministry of Health says the two samples of suspected Ebola cases taken out of the country for investigations have tested negative for the virus. The samples were collected from Nimule in Eastern Equatoria and Yambio in Western Equatoria State after two patients presented Ebola signs and symptoms. The tests were initially destined for Uganda lab, in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the two countries.
10/4/22 Vaccine-Resistant Ebola Strain Spreads in Uganda Wall Street Journal – the outbreak, now spread across five farming districts in central Uganda, likely started more than a month before it was detected, raising fears that there are more unknown cases. The center of the outbreak lies along a major highway connecting Uganda’s capital, Kampala, with the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is around 20 miles from Kibale National Park, popular with foreign tourists coming to see Uganda’s chimpanzees. Congo, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan have started screening travelers crossing their borders with Uganda for Ebola symptoms, which include fever, vomiting, headaches and fatigue. Asymptomatic Ebola patients usually can’t pass on the virus, but because of its long incubation period—up to 21 days—an infected person can travel far from the epicenter of an outbreak before falling ill.
10/3/22 Uganda’s Ebola outbreak suspected to have crossed into South Sudan Africa Times – The Ebola virus outbreak in Uganda may have spread into neighboring South Sudan, although authorities there are still working to confirm active cases. Health Minister Yolanda Awel, meeting with President Salva Kiir on Monday, confirmed that suspected cases have been identified and isolated near the country’s border with Uganda, according to a government statement. Some media reports say one of the unconfirmed cases, that of a man in Kajokeji County, has already died. Lab samples from five cases, all arising from the three Equatoria provinces, have been sent to South Africa for testing. “The health minister revealed that her ministry is well prepared and working hard to prevent the Ebola outbreak in South Sudan,” the statement said.
10/3/22 Ebola sickens 8 more in Uganda; doctor among latest deaths CIDRAP he new developments lift the country’s overall total to 62 cases, 27 of them fatal. Of the 62 cases, 43 are lab-confirmed and 19 are listed as probable. Of the 27 deaths, 9 were in lab-confirmed patients, and 18 are classified as probable.
10/1/22 Uganda Red Cross Society Our Health team supporting the Ebola response in Mubende just concluded attending the district task force meeting to discuss the response within the hotspot area(s). By now, 4 districts have confirmed cases and these include Mubende, Kassanda, Kyegegwa and Kagadi.
9/30/22 Ebola Virus Disease Emergency Appeal No. MDRUG047 Relief Web – The index case – a 24-year-old man – sought care at the nearest health facility (St. Johns Medical Clinic in Katwe) on 14 September with a high fever, convulsions, blood-stained vomitus, and diarrhoea. He was initially managed for pneumonia before being referred to and isolated in the Mubende Regional Referral Hospital. While in the isolation unit, he developed a yellowing of the eyes, tea coloured urine and complained of abdominal pain. On 17 September, the patient was not showing any signs of improvement. The clinical team then decided to take a sample from the patient having suspected a viral haemorrhagic fever. The sample was received at the VHF laboratory at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) on 18 September, and the results were released on 19 September. The confirmed index case died early in the morning of 19 September, and a safe and dignified burial was conducted.
10/1/22 Tweet from Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero (MoH Uganda) I regret to announce that we have lost our first doctor, Dr Mohammed Ali, a Tanzanian National, 37yr old Male today at 3:15am. He tested positive of Ebola on Sept 26, 2022 and died while receiving treatment at Fort Portal RRH, Isolation facility ( JMedic).
9/29/22 Ebola experimental vaccine trial may begin soon in Uganda STAT News – A clinical trial of one or perhaps two experimental vaccines designed to protect against the Ebola Sudan virus could soon begin in Uganda, as long as the country agrees to allow the research to take place, an official of the World Health Organization said Wednesday. The trial could get underway within a couple of weeks and definitely before the end of October, said Ana Maria Henao-Restrepo, who heads WHO’s R&D Blueprint effort to develop drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines to respond to outbreaks of rare and dangerous pathogens. Henao-Restrepo and her team in WHO’s Health Emergencies Program have been meeting since last week to try to determine if any of the vaccines in development are far enough along to warrant testing in the fast-growing Ebola Sudan outbreak, which was first recognized early last week.
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Unofficial Tracking of Ebola Cases, links to source on each marker