KASESE – The Ministry of health has on Thursday 13 updated the public that Uganda has so far registered three confirmed cases of Ebola.
According to the ministry, two of these have since passed on the most recent being the 50 -year-old grandmother of the deceased index Ebola case who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the 10th June 2019 and tested positive for Ebola but died Wednesday evening at 4:00 pm.
Early this week, the Ministry of Health announced the Ebola outbreak in Kasese District.
This was after a 5-year-old boy who was admitted and isolated at Bwera Hospital Ebola Treatment Unit tested positive and died Tuesday night.
On Monday, the Ministry held a media briefing on Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Kigezi Region at Manhattan Hotel, Kabale to sensitise journalists on correct EVD reporting.
However, the United States of America on Wednesday showed its confidence in Uganda’s ability to contain the outbreak of Ebola.
In a statement, the US Embassy revealed that it has already invested in Uganda’s preparedness to fight the deadly disease that has spread from the neighbouring DR Congo.
“The United States has strong confidence in the Ugandan government’s ability to respond to the outbreak in coordination with partners. The U.S. government has invested heavily in Uganda’s preparations to manage Ebola through both technical and financial assistance, and we will continue to provide assistance to prevent the spread of the disease,” the statement read in part.
“For updates on the situation, we encourage you to follow the Ugandan Ministry of Health as well as the World Health Organization’s Ebola situation reports,” it added.
On Thursday, three suspected Ebola patients reportedly escaped from an Isolation centre in Kanungu where they had been admitted for close monitoring due to their Ebola-like symptoms.
Identified as Saddi Muhima 46, his son Issa Muhima 19, and Milton Nsenga are citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to the Kanungu Health Inspector, Kato Besisira, the patients escaped as the health workers were preparing to draw blood samples from them, the medics were intending to send the patients to Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) Entebbe for examination.
