Concerns about another Ebola epidemic are growing in East African Uganda. It is believed that several dozen people contracted the virus in a few days, and 23 of them died, according to the Ministry of Health. Doctors fear the virus infection could spread to other districts.
The disease was first detected in Mubende, in central Uganda: a young man died there on September 20 as a result of an infection with the Ebola virus. Since then, a race against time has been going on, the authorities are intensively looking for contact persons to prevent the further spread of the highly contagious virus.
Possible cause: bats
The situation is made more difficult because the exact chains of infection and the source of the current Ebola outbreak are still unclear. “We have had a few epidemics so far in which we have not been able to find the interface between the initial case and the place where it was infected,” doctor Innocent Nkonwa told DW.
But Nkonwa has a suspicion: “One of the biggest challenges in our environment is that we live with bats every day,” says Nkonwa, who treated Ebola patients in the Luweero district further east ten years ago. The animals like to nest in houses, even then there were indications that the virus had been transmitted from bats to humans.
The district of Mubende and the city of the same name are around 130 kilometers west of Kampala on a trunk road in the direction of the Democratic Republic of the Congo – in the neighboring country there was an Ebola outbreak in August, which was officially declared over today. No cases are known from the Ugandan capital Kampala.
Uganda is well prepared
The worst Ebola epidemic to date occurred in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. At that time, more than 11,300 people died from the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever. Since the virus first appeared in 1976, there have also been numerous smaller outbreaks in the forests of East and Central Africa, which were quickly contained.
However, Diana Atwine, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Health, sees the danger that the current wave of infections could expand into an epidemic again. The ministry is on alert: “Our teams are on site and working with the district crisis response teams to explore the possible source of the Ebola virus, and we are isolating all contacts,” Atwine told DW.
Last week, State Secretary Diana Atwine confirmed the outbreak of the deadly viral disease Ebola in Uganda
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the health authorities in Uganda are relatively well armed against Ebola outbreaks. The country has a laboratory to detect the virus, a surveillance program and trained professionals. After the first evidence, the government in Kampala immediately put the prepared emergency plans into effect last week.
Supported by specialists from the WHO, trained teams of doctors and nurses traveled to the affected region to isolate those infected as quickly as possible, to inform the population about simple protective measures and to start treating the sick.
Sudan virus back after ten years
According to the WHO, it is the first time the Ebola Sudan strain has been detected in Uganda in more than a decade. Although there is still no vaccine against the rare Sudan Ebola virus, early detection of cases and treatment of symptoms significantly increase the chances of survival, the health experts said.
The new outbreak does not catch the country unprepared. Because of previous outbreaks in Uganda and neighboring provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Ugandan Ministry of Health has worked with WHO on many preparedness efforts. According to the WHO, the last such exercise took place in August 2022, during which nine Ugandan doctors were trained in hospitals to deal with viral hemorrhagic fevers.
The World Health Organization is planning further measures to strengthen the medical emergency teams in the various regions of Africa. Speaking on WHO’s response strategy to health crises, Fiona Braka, head of WHO’s emergency operations in Africa, said: “Countries must have adequate capacity to respond quickly and effectively, and this includes personnel, supplies and coordination structures.”
Objective: Fast responses from emergency teams
Health systems in many African countries remain overwhelmed by multiple disease outbreaks and man-made crises. WHO emphasizes that simulation exercises are crucial to test the readiness and capacity of emergency medical teams across Africa.
In May, for example, Senegal allowed a military medical team to conduct such an exercise to strengthen its capacity and gain international certification of a high standard of emergency response.
Fiona Braka expressed confidence that WHO could conduct simulation exercises in nine more countries before the end of the year, in addition to the eight countries that have already benefited. “This will help us reduce vulnerability and the number of deaths related to emergencies.”
Cooperation: Alex Gitta in Uganda