Uganda issues Ebola alert on western border
Kampala - Uganda on Sunday said it had stepped up surveillance along its border after the deadly Ebola virus claimed nine lives early this month in the Republic of Congo's north-western border with Gabon.
"We have put our district epidemiology surveillance teams on alert to monitor all (western) border entries because the disease has been reported not very far from us," Deputy Health Minister Michael Mukula told AFP by phone.
The country's health authorities, neighbouring states and World Health Organisation are working together in scrutinising cross-border activities and screening all entries in order to prevent a possible spread of the virus into Uganda, he said.
The deadly Ebola epidemic, which broke out in northern district of Gulu in 2000, claimed more than 170 lives, out of the 428 people who contracted the disease.
"We want to avoid a repeat recurrence of 2000 when we lost lives, we lost some of our best medical practitioners and therefore we are closely following the events in Congo," Mukula added.
On Wednesday, Congolese health ministry officials said the epidemic, which has claimed nine lives since early May in Congo's north-western border with Gabon, was Ebola virus.
Ebola, discovered only 24 years ago, is one of a family of viruses that cause haemorrhagic fever.
The patient literally bleeds to death, his internal organs transformed into a semi-liquid mass, his skin, eyes, gums and anus weeping blood.
The virus, transported in infected blood, semen and possibly urine and respiratory droplets, takes three weeks to incubate. Death occurs in 50 to 90 percent of cases, usually just a few days after the first symptoms appear.
http://www.iol.co.za/general/news/newsprint.php?art_id=qw111677382155U253&sf=
Kampala - Uganda on Sunday said it had stepped up surveillance along its border after the deadly Ebola virus claimed nine lives early this month in the Republic of Congo's north-western border with Gabon.
"We have put our district epidemiology surveillance teams on alert to monitor all (western) border entries because the disease has been reported not very far from us," Deputy Health Minister Michael Mukula told AFP by phone.
The country's health authorities, neighbouring states and World Health Organisation are working together in scrutinising cross-border activities and screening all entries in order to prevent a possible spread of the virus into Uganda, he said.
The deadly Ebola epidemic, which broke out in northern district of Gulu in 2000, claimed more than 170 lives, out of the 428 people who contracted the disease.
"We want to avoid a repeat recurrence of 2000 when we lost lives, we lost some of our best medical practitioners and therefore we are closely following the events in Congo," Mukula added.
On Wednesday, Congolese health ministry officials said the epidemic, which has claimed nine lives since early May in Congo's north-western border with Gabon, was Ebola virus.
Ebola, discovered only 24 years ago, is one of a family of viruses that cause haemorrhagic fever.
The patient literally bleeds to death, his internal organs transformed into a semi-liquid mass, his skin, eyes, gums and anus weeping blood.
The virus, transported in infected blood, semen and possibly urine and respiratory droplets, takes three weeks to incubate. Death occurs in 50 to 90 percent of cases, usually just a few days after the first symptoms appear.
http://www.iol.co.za/general/news/newsprint.php?art_id=qw111677382155U253&sf=