Uganda’s confirmed Ebola cases rise to 7
What you need to know:
- One can also contract the disease through contact with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats and other wild animals.
Kampala. Uganda's Ministry of Health has reported six new confirmed cases of Ebola, raising the total number of people infected to seven.
Also Read: What you need to know about Ebola
Addressing journalists in Kampala Thursday, Dr Henry Kyobe, the Ebola Incident Commander, said they forecast an increase in cases but actions are underway to protect the population and health workers.
“As of today, we have seven confirmed cases, one confirmed Ebola death and seven probable [Ebola] deaths. We have listed 43 contacts [of the victims] and we are doing contact tracing,” he said.
Dr Kyobe said there is no approved drug or vaccine for the disease.
“But there are trial drugs using the monoclonal antibody technology. Largely, the treatment is mainly on supportive care. This strain has no vaccine and for now, the plan for the vaccine is not on the table but it is being considered as soon as we have some,” he said.
He added: “For now we are concentrated on making sure we inform the population about what it is, guiding them on the measures to be able to protect, guiding them to show us where contacts are –identify them to be able to get patients early in care.”
According to the Health Ministry, EVD is transmitted through contact with the blood, stool or fluids of an infected person and objects that have been contaminated with body fluids from an infected person.
One can also contract the disease through contact with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats and other wild animals.
The known symptoms of Ebola include high body temperatures, fatigue, chest pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, unexplained bleeding, yellowing of the eyes. Bleeding is usually a late presentation after the above symptoms, according to the Health Ministry.
