Plagues,
Pestilences and Diseases
Ebola Virus kills girl in Uganda, more cases expected
By Barry Malone | Reuters
KAMPALA (Reuters) - The rare and deadly Ebola virus has killed a
12-year-old Ugandan girl and health officials said on Saturday
they expected more cases.
The girl from Luwero district, 75 km (45 miles) north of the
capital Kampala, died on May 6, said Anthony Mbonye, the
government's commissioner for community health, in the first
outbreak of the virus in Uganda in four years.
"Laboratory investigations have confirmed Ebola to be the primary
cause of the illness and death. So there is one case reported but
we expect other cases," he said.
There is no treatment and no vaccine against Ebola, which is
transmitted by close personal contact and, depending on the
strain, kills up to 90 percent of victims.
"Just one case is considered an epidemic because it can spread
quickly and it is highly fatal."
The last time Uganda was hit by Ebola -- a disease in which those
infected often bleed to death -- it killed 37 people.
Ugandan health officials are following up 33 people who were in
contact with the girl, he said.
Mbonye asked Ugandans to avoid eating monkeys, and to not hold
lengthy funerals, but bury bodies immediately. People have
contracted Ebola after eating improperly cooked monkey meat.
Representatives from the World Health Organisation attended the
press briefing in the capital.
Uganda said it had notified its neighbours of the outbreak.
The 2007 outbreak sparked panic amongst officials, health workers
and the public. At the time, President Yoweri Museveni urged
Ugandans to stop shaking hands in an attempt to halt the spread of
Ebola.
Its initial symptoms include sudden onset of fever, intense
weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed
by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes, impaired kidney and liver function
and both internal and external bleeding.
Mbonye said rapid response teams were on standby to treat those
with symptoms, and urged people to remain calm. He said the strain
in the outbreak was Sudanic ebola, which has a 50-60 percent
fatality rate.
Ebola has caused dozens of deadly outbreaks across Africa and
threatens endangered gorilla populations as well as people. It is
considered a possible bioterrorism weapon.
The virus is named after the Ebola River Valley in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), which is near the site of
the first recognized outbreak in 1976.
(Writing by James Macharia; editing by Matthew Jones)