KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda has reported its first death from Ebola since the last outbreak was declared over in early 2023. This tragic event was confirmed by a health official on Thursday. The victim, a 32-year-old male nurse working at Mulago Hospital in the capital, Kampala, developed a fever and underwent treatment at various medical facilities throughout Uganda before tests ultimately confirmed an Ebola infection. He passed away on Wednesday, and postmortem analyses identified the Sudan strain of the virus, according to Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary of the health ministry.
In the wake of this incident, health authorities identified at least 44 individuals who had come into contact with the nurse, including 30 healthcare workers and patients from Mulago Hospital. Atwine reassured the public that health officials have the situation under control and urged citizens to report any suspected cases that may arise.
Contact tracing is vital in curbing the outbreak, especially since there are currently no approved vaccines for the Sudan strain of Ebola. The last outbreak in Uganda, which began in September 2022, resulted in at least 55 fatalities before it was declared over in January 2023. The recent confirmation of Ebola in Uganda fits into a broader pattern of viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks within the East African region. Earlier this month, Tanzania declared an outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg disease, while Rwanda recently announced the conclusion of its own Marburg outbreak. Local health authorities have reported that the Marburg outbreak in Tanzania’s Kagera region has already claimed at least two lives.
To aid in Uganda’s response efforts, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced an initial funding allocation of $1 million from its contingency fund, as noted by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He indicated that a comprehensive response sponsored by the government and its partners is currently in motion.
The current situation in Kampala presents a challenge due to the city’s dense and highly mobile population of approximately 4 million residents. The nurse who succumbed to the virus had initially sought treatment outside of Kampala before further traveling to Mbale, a city in the east of Uganda, where he was treated at a public hospital. Reports also revealed that he sought assistance from a traditional healer during his health crisis.
Emmanuel Batiibwe, a physician actively involved in efforts to curb the 2022 outbreak, expressed confidence in the team’s ability to trace potential contacts swiftly across Kampala and beyond. He emphasized the need for a prompt and cohesive reaction based on experience gained from past outbreaks, notably the one centered in central Uganda last year. “We have the means of responding quickly now,” Batiibwe stated.
Ebola is transmitted through contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or contaminated materials and presents as a severe form of hemorrhagic fever. Symptoms can manifest as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, and in some cases, internal and external bleeding. Although scientists have yet to determine the natural reservoir of the virus, they believe that initial infections may occur through contact with infected animals or consumption of their raw meat. Currently, Ugandan authorities are investigating the source of the ongoing outbreak.
Uganda has a history of multiple Ebola outbreaks dating back to 2000, which resulted in hundreds of deaths. The devastating Ebola epidemic in West Africa from 2014 to 2016 led to over 11,000 fatalities, marking the highest death toll associated with the disease in history. Ebola was initially identified in 1976 following simultaneous outbreaks in South Sudan and Congo, originating from a village near the Ebola River, the namesake of the virus.
