DAKAR (Reuters) -A new cluster of Ebola cases has emerged in Uganda, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday, adding that efforts were being made to intensify monitoring and contact-tracing measures.
Uganda declared an outbreak of the highly infectious and often fatal haemorrhagic disease in January in the capital Kampala after the death of a male nurse at the East African country’s sole national referral hospital for Ebola cases.
A second Ebola patient who died was a four-year-old child, the World Health Organization said on Saturday, citing the country’s health ministry.
Africa CDC official Ngashi Ngongo told reporters that since the last briefing on Thursday a new cluster with three confirmed and two probable cases had been detected.
Two new districts reported Ebola cases, Ngongo said, adding that initially the outbreak affected three other districts.
Overall, Uganda has recorded 14 cases and two deaths since the start of the outbreak, according to Africa CDC.
“Ebola in Uganda is a very important challenge, especially the resurgence of these cases. However, I think everything is being done in the country to intensify the monitoring,” Ngongo said told the briefing.
Ebola symptoms include fever, headache and muscle pains. The virus is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue.
Uganda last suffered an outbreak in late 2022 which killed 55 of the 143 people infected. That outbreak was declared over in 2023.
An outbreak of Marburg, a cousin of Ebola, was declared in neighbouring Tanzania in January. Uganda also borders Rwanda, which emerged from a Marburg outbreak in December, and Democratic Republic of Congo, where outbreaks of Ebola are common.
(Reporting by Ayen Deng Bior and Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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