Latest news with #EbolaSudanVirusDisease
Eyewitness News
26-04-2025
- Health
- Eyewitness News
Uganda declares end of 6th Ebola outbreak
NAIROBI, Kenya - Uganda declared the end of an Ebola virus outbreak Saturday, which has killed at least two people in the east African nation since late January. The announcement came 42 days after the discharge of the last confirmed patient from hospital. The outbreak marked the sixth time Uganda was affected by the deadly virus that has six different strains, three of which have caused major epidemics. "During this outbreak, 14 cases, 12 confirmed and two not confirmed through laboratory tests (probable), were reported. Four deaths, two confirmed and two probable, occurred. Ten people recovered from the infection," The World Health Organization said in a statement. The confirmed cases of the Sudan Ebola strain resulted in the death of a four-year-old child and a nurse. Several dozens of people were also monitored after coming in contact with the disease, according to the African Union's health agency (Africa CDC). "The current Ebola Sudan Virus Disease outbreak has officially come to an end," Uganda's health ministry said on X. "This follows 42 days without a new case since the last confirmed patient was discharged on March 14 2025." World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus applauded the health ministry for its "leadership and commitment" in overcoming the outbreak. "Congratulations to the government and health workers of #Uganda on ending the #Ebola outbreak," he said on X on Saturday. There is currently no approved vaccine for the Ebola-Sudan strain. But a vaccination trial for the strain was launched in the country in February. It was praised by the World Health Organization as the "fastest roll-out" of an Ebola vaccine trial in the midst of an epidemic. But the international context for funding such health efforts is proving challenging. In early March, the United Nations launched a call to raise $11.2 million to address this epidemic after the United States announced the cessation of most of its humanitarian aid. Ebola is transmitted between people through body fluids. People who are infected do not become contagious until the appearance of symptoms -- mainly fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea -- which occur after an incubation period of between two and 21 days. More than 15,000 people in Africa have died of Ebola, all six strains combined, in the past half-century.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Uganda declares end to latest Ebola outbreak
Uganda has declared an end to the country's latest outbreak of Ebola, three months after authorities confirmed cases of the highly infectious and often fatal viral haemorrhagic infection in the capital Kampala. The East African country announced its latest outbreak on January 30 after the death of a male nurse who tested positive for the virus. "Good news! The current Ebola Sudan virus disease outbreak has officially come to an end," the health ministry said in a post on the X platform on Saturday. It added the declaration of the end of the outbreak followed 42 days "without a new case since the last confirmed patient was discharged". GOOD NEWS! The current Ebola Sudan Virus Disease outbreak has officially come to an end. This follows 42 days without a new case since the last confirmed patient was discharged on March 14 2025. Our appreciation to our health workers, partners and communities for their support… — Ministry of Health- Uganda (@MinofHealthUG) April 26, 2025 In the post, the ministry did not give the latest total caseload recorded during the outbreak. In early March when the ministry last reported on the caseload, it said at least ten cases had been recorded with two deaths. Ebola infections are frequent in Uganda which has many tropical forests that are natural reservoirs for the virus. The latest outbreak, caused by the Sudan strain of the virus, was Uganda's ninth since the country recorded its first infection in 2000. Uganda also neighbours the Democratic Republic of Congo which has recorded over a dozen outbreaks, including one in 2018-2020 that killed nearly 2300 people. The outbreak started in Kampala, a crowded city of about four million that is also a crossroads for routes branching out to eastern Congo, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan. Although outbreaks have been common, health experts say the country has been able to leverage on its experience battling the disease over the years to bring them under control relatively quickly. Ebola is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue. Symptoms include headache, vomiting of blood, muscle pains and bleeding.
