The Ebola outbreak in the East African country Uganda has caused 48 deaths, with 131 confirmed cases, according to a health official involved in managing the outbreak. The death toll has risen to more than 10 from last week’s number.
Uganda’s Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng confirmed the death toll at 30 last week with confirmed cases 109, British news agency Reuters reported.
Henry Kyobe Bosa, Ebola incident commander said, “Confirmed cases by today 131 and 48 deaths.” The statement came at a briefing organized by the World Health Organization’s Africa office.
He added, “On the spread and when we are likely to have the outbreak ending I see no experts on this panel can actually predict when it will end.” He also informed that the authorities were taking steps like contact tracing, risk communication, and appropriate treatment and burials to curb the outbreak.
In October, the Ugandan government gave a statement that it was positive about Ebola ending by the year-end. However, last week Africa’s top public health body confirmed that it thought the condition was “not getting out of hand”.
The Ugandan virus is the Sudan strain of Ebola which does not vaccine against it. However, the Zaire strain which is more common has a vaccine against it and is witnessed in the fresh outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A clinical study of vaccines to prevent the Sudan strain of Ebola might begin in a matter of weeks, according to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ comments in mid-October.
