DRC Ebola Virus Outbreak: Epidemic Spreads To Uganda

Almost 10 months after the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC declared its biggest ever and 10th Ebola virus outbreak in 40 years on August 1, 2018, the epidemic has now spread to neighbouring Uganda. Ugandan health authorities on June 12, 2019 announced the death of a five-year-old boy the day before from the disease, the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC reported. Quoting Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng, the World Health Organisation, WHO, said there were now three confirmed Ebola cases in the country.

A joint statement by the two sides said a rapid response team had been dispatched to identify other people at risk and follow up eight possible cases. Reports say the late boy’s younger brother and grandmother also have the same disease. The Ugandan family, who live in Kasese District, entered the country through the Bwera border post on June 9, 2019 after losing the father to the deadly disease in DRC.

DRC health authorities said before returning home, the child had already started showing strong signs of Ebola infection. They then alerted their Ugandan counterparts who tracked down the family and isolated the boy before his death. As news of the first Ugandan victim of the current Ebola epidemic spread, stakeholders on June 12, 2019 mounted pres...