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Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, all monitoring completed, outbreak declared over

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  • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative

    Note that no symptomatic cases have yet been reported associated with this event:



    Kasese on Ebola alert as residents share, feast on chimpanzee meat

    An Ebola scare has hit Kasese District following an incident on Sunday when residents of Buhunga Village in Kilembe Sub-county killed a chimpanzee that had strayed from the park and shared the meat.

    Despite calls by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to residents not to eat the chimpanzee because it may be the cause of the Ebola virus, the residents were busy roasting and feasting on the bush meat.

    According to the Rwenzori Mountains National Park Law enforcement Officer Mr Rujumba Bwambale, the chimpanzee strayed out of the park on Saturday evening and on reaching the community, it was hunted down and killed.

    Mr Rujumba warned people not to eat the wild animal for fear of being the source of the deadly Ebola virus that is said to be from the monkey family where chimpanzees belong.

    ?I tried my best on behalf of UWA to warn people against eating the meat but they went on and ate it. I sounded out warnings immediately I heard of the information but no one has surrendered the meat. UWA is not responsible for whatever happens there after,? Mr Rujumba said.

    He said although it is not confirmed that the chimpanzees carry the Ebola virus, it was important for people not to feed on their meat for their safety and wildlife conservation.

    Mr Rujumba says by the time he reached the scene with security personnel, the hunters had carried away most of the meat.
    About one kilogramme was recovered and later transferred to the Virus centre in Entebbe for proper tests to check for any traces of Ebola.

    [snip]

    Comment


    • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative

      Not quite contained, as we have to get to at least 21 days (and 42 days to be completely sure), but 14 days is a good start...

      The number of the 408 contacts who have reached 21 days symptom-free and been cleared is apparently over 300 now.



      Health ministry says Ebola contained
      Publish Date: Aug 17, 2012

      By Francis Kagolo

      The recent Ebola outbreak in Kibaale district has been contained, with no new case recorded in the last two weeks, the health ministry has announced.

      Dr. Dennis Lwamafa, acting director general of health services, said in a statement that the last confirmed admitted case to Kagadi Hospital was on August 3.

      “There have not been new cases reported since then
      ,” Lwamafa confirmed.

      Ebola, a highly contagious viral infection, broke out about two months ago when it killed a two-month-old baby at Nyanswiga village, Nyamarunda sub-county, Kibaale district.

      On the fateful day, the baby’s mother left it asleep in their mud-and-wattle hut and went to tend to her crop garden. She returned later in the day only to find the baby dead. The baby’s left palm had the sign of an animal bite.

      A week later, the disease claimed eight other people, all from the same family.

      The epidemic has so far claimed about 15 lives, including a clinical officer at Kagadi hospital identified as Claire Muhumuza.

      Medical theory indicates that an Ebola outbreak starts when an infected animal, most likely a monkey or a bat, infects a human being. Through direct contact, the victim then infects other people.

      Over three quarters of the 408 people who were being observed after reportedly coming in contact with Ebola patients were declared free of the disease after they did not become sick within 21 days, the maximum incubation period.

      The ministry said 49 patients were Thursday discharged from the isolation facility of Kagadi Hospital after being proven negative for Ebola
      .

      More people continue to be followed up, investigated and discharged after receiving treatment for other ailments.

      [snip]

      Comment


      • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative

        Here's an alternative version of events. Ignoring the issue of what kind of "research" a 16-year-old girl would be doing in the forest (some kind of school project, perhaps?), if she indeed was infected in early June and died on June 12th, then all the familiar cases with onsets in late June (including the baby) could have contracted it from her.



        08/16/2012
        “There is Ebola is Uganda. No sign-of-peace in the Church”

        Ebola strikes again in Uganda. The latest haemorrhagic fever outbreak has caused the death of 16 people in the last few months in the Kibaale district, just over two hundred kilometres from the capital city, Kampala. “As soon as the authorities released the news of this new epidemic outbreak, people panicked. In church we had to forbid shaking hands in sign of peace to avoid the risk of contagion” said Sister Annette Kyaligonza who coordinates the health operations in the diocese of Hoima, which includes areas stuck by the virus.

        [snip]

        There have been 60 people hit by Ebola in the Kibaale district so far. Many are still in isolation in the Kagadi hospital. The first victim was a young girl of 16. She died on the 12th of June, a week after being hospitalized. She had gone deep in the forest to carry out some research.

        [snip]

        Comment


        • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative

          [Source: World Health Organization, full page: (LINK). Edited.]
          Ebola in Uganda ? update

          17 August 2012


          The Ministry of Health of Uganda (MoH) continues to work with partners to control the outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Kibaale district. The national and district task forces also meet daily to coordinate the response to the outbreak.

          To date, 24 probable and confirmed cases including 16 deaths have been reported.

          Eleven cases have been laboratory confirmed by the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) in Entebbe. The last confirmed case was admitted to the Kagadi isolation facility on 4 August 2012.

          Suspected cases which tested negative during the laboratory investigations have been discarded as Ebola patients, treated symptomatically for their ailments and discharged following recovery. A total of forty nine (49) people have been discharged from the isolation facility, including one confirmed case.

          All contacts of probable and confirmed cases are followed up daily for 21 days and are monitored for any possible signs or symptoms of illness. More than 70% of the 408 listed contacts have completed 21 days of follow up without developing any symptoms. All alerts of suspected cases in the other districts have been investigated and are so far negative for Ebola.

          With the support of WHO and other partners, the Ministry of Health has established and equipped an isolation facility at Mulago National referral hospital in Kampala, Uganda in anticipation of receiving suspected cases from other districts, should they occur. Health workers who will manage the facility have already been trained.

          Social mobilization teams comprised of Red Cross volunteers and village health teams have reached most of the villages and households in the most affected sub-counties in Kibaale district. These activities are reinforced by the distribution of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials, and by the broadcast of health awareness messages on radio and by film vans.

          A team led by CDC has begun conducting ecological studies in Kibaale district to try and understand the likely source and route of transmission of this outbreak.



          Neighbouring countries

          Countries sharing borders with Uganda are taking steps to enhance surveillance for Ebola. At the time of this update, none of them have reported any confirmed cases related to the Uganda outbreak.


          WHO does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions are applied to Uganda.
          -
          ------

          Comment


          • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative



            Ebola patients bounce back to good health but suffer stigma

            By FRANCIS MUGERWA & NIcholas KALUNGI

            Posted Saturday, August 18 2012 at 01:00

            According to Kibaale authorities, the worst stigma is being experienced in Kakindo and Muhorro sub-counties.

            John Mugabi, 35, was a prosperous farmer and businessman dealing in agricultural produce. The resident of Butumba B LCI, Nyanseke Parish in Muhorro Town Council, had largely had a healthy and happy life with his family.

            However, an illness that struck on the afternoon of July 29 changed the course of his life. Mr Mugabi developed high fever. A few hours later he began vomiting and suffered intense stomach pains. “When I was taken to Kagadi Hospital, I was put in an isolation ward,” he said as he rested his cheek on his left hand.

            Luckily, he was one of the more than 50 patients who were admitted with clinical signs similar to those of Ebola disease but turned negative.

            Instead of receiving warm reception from their communities, the more than 40 patients are being shunned. “Some people still fear to socialise with me. They fear that I may have Ebola” Mugabi says. “Whenever I go to buy goods, people run away from me. My businesses are suffering.”
            He was discharged together with his children Costa Mugabi, 9, Businge Mugabi,5, and Geoffrey Kaija,7.

            The District Health Officer, Dr Dan Kyamanywa, said his office has registered some cases where former patients are stigmatised and discriminated against. “The reception of these people varies. In some areas they get no problems while in a few other places, communities are in fear and anxious. They shun them,” Dr Kyamanywa said.

            The worst stigma is being experienced in Kakindo and Muhorro sub-counties. “For instance, when they go for shopping, at times some shop attendants close the shop and flee,” Dr Kyamanywa revealed.

            The district Ebola taskforce has also registered cases where businesses of people who have been discharged are shunned by customers.

            Dr Kyamanywa said the district authorities have now embarked on sensitisation drives on radios and in communities to reduced such incidents. Those being discharged are accompanied by a team comprised of counselors, social workers and medical staff to re-unite them with their respective families.

            Meanwhile the Ministry of Health has said the disease is increasingly coming under control with no new case reported in the last 13 days. So far 49 patients have been discharged from the isolation facility of Kagadi Hospital after testing negative to Ebola. However, more people continue to be followed up, investigated and discharged after receiving treatment for other ailments.

            [snip]

            Comment


            • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative

              Well, this explains some of the negative tests:



              Two dead as cholera, dysentery hit Kibaale
              Publish Date: Aug 22, 2012

              Cholera and dystentry outbreak in Kibaale

              * Two dead, 14 admitted

              * The same district where Ebola struck

              By Ismael Kasooha

              Residents of Kibaale district will not live settled lives yet even after the deadly Ebola virus was last week declared contained in the area. Now it is a double strike of cholera and dysentery in the same district.

              Already, two people have succumbed to the cholera outbreak on the shores of Lake Albert in the western district of the country.

              The dead have been identified as Aduba Kabaja, 42, a resident of Kitebere landing site and Peter Kasanga, 50, a resident of Songalawo landing site in Ndaiga sub-county.

              Dr. Dana Kyamanywa, the district health officer said that the duo died on the August 13 and August 16 respectively.

              "It has been confirmed that it is cholera and we have already set up an isolation unit to treat patients at Ndaiga health centre II at the lake shores," said Kyamanywa.

              The two middle-aged men both died at their homes before they could report to the health centre.

              So far 14 people are currently admitted at the Cholera Isolation Centre at Ndaiga health centre II in Ndaiga sub-county.

              But Dr. Jackson Amony, who is currently the national coordinator of the Ebola taskforce said the isolation centre does not meet the standards of an isolation unit which poses danger in the area.

              "The problem is aggravated by the mobility of the communities living on the lake shores and sanitation is very poor and there are no toilets," he explained.

              “The air smells of faecal matter as one arrives at the fishing villages, which poses higher health risks.”

              [snip]

              He said that dysentery was reported some two days back by residents who had suspected it for were Ebola.

              [snip]

              Comment


              • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 16 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative



                Another Ebola patient dead, only one remains in isolation facility
                First published: 20120824 2:20:06 AM EST Share on twitter

                Ultimate Media

                Another person has succumbed to Ebola after a long battle with the deadly fever at the isolation facility at Kagadi government hospital in Kibaale district.

                This brings the total number of people who have died of the deadly hemorrhagic disease to 17. The deceased?s identity has however been withheld by the health ministry.

                The ministry?s public relations officer Rukia Nakamatte says since she was admitted in the isolation camp her condition had never improved and her chances of survival were minimal.

                Nakamatte adds that the deceased was HIV positive and by the time she contracted Ebola she had just had an abortion thus making her immune system very weak. She says now only one Ebola patient remains admitted at the isolation facility.

                Nakamatte adds that 3 suspected Ebola cases are currently undergoing monitoring and their samples have already been taken to the Uganda Virus Research Institute for tests.

                [snip]

                Comment


                • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative, only one patient remains in isolation facility

                  This article from New Vision in Uganda puts the death toll at "over 20".

                  Ebola patients at Kagadi Hospital have been aided with health supplies critical for their recovery.


                  "...the donation is aimed at supporting the ongoing efforts by the ministry of health to contain the disease which so far has killed over 20 people since its outbreak last month in Kibaale district and to boost the recovery of the victims."



                  "What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it." - Herbert Simon

                  "The benefits of education and of useful knowledge, generally diffused through a community, are essential to the preservation of a free government." - Sam Houston

                  Comment


                  • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative, only one patient remains in isolation facility



                    Man steals phone from Ebola patient at Uganda hospital, gets Ebola
                    A man stole a mobile phone from an Ebola patient in an isolation ward at a Western Uganda hospital. The thief ? surprise! ? also became infected with Ebola.

                    Erin Conway-SmithAugust 26, 2012 14:29

                    JOHANNESBURG, South Africa ? We'd make fun of this crook, if only we didn't feel a little bad for him.

                    According to a report from the Sunday Monitor, a man stole a mobile phone from a patient in an isolation ward at Kagadi Hospital, in Western Uganda.

                    As it turns out, the patient was suffering from Ebola, one of numerous cases in a recent outbreak in Uganda. The patient later died from the hemorrhagic fever. But before dying, he reported the theft of his phone to hospital security, who began investigating.

                    Police detectives traced the suspected thief, age 40, after he began communicating with friends using the stolen phone.

                    The Monitor reported that "as police zeroed in on him, he developed symptoms similar to those of Ebola and sought medication at the hospital."

                    ?The suspect is admitted at Kagadi Hospital with clinical signs of Ebola," Dr. Dan Kyamanywa, the Kibaale District Health Officer, told the Monitor.

                    Ebola virus, which causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is considered one of the world's most terrifying viruses: victims tend to die bloody and painful deaths, bleeding from every orifice.

                    Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni warned in a televised broadcast that people should refrain from physical contact like shaking hands, casual sex and do-it-yourself burials to reduce the chance of contracting Ebola.

                    And from stealing cell phones, evidently.

                    [snip]

                    Comment


                    • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 165 contacts being monitored, 243 have tested negative, only one patient remains in isolation facility

                      Here's the article that blog refers to. Simply amazing:



                      Man steals phone from Ebola patient, gets infected

                      Posted Sunday, August 26 2012 at 01:00

                      Kibaale

                      Security and medical officials in Kibaale District have registered a case in which a man allegedly went in an isolation ward at Kagadi Hospital and stole a cellular phone from one of the Ebola patients.

                      The 40-year-old resident of Kyakabugahya LCI in Kagadi Town Council travelled about three kilometers to the hospital to apparently obtain a phone estimated to be valued at Shs60,000 more than two weeks ago.

                      The suspect allegedly broke into the isolation ward on the night of Tuesday August 14, undetected by hospital guards. The patient, who has since succumbed to the deadly hemorrhagic fever, then reported the theft to the hospital security that then embarked on tracing the alleged thief.

                      Police detectives began tracking him after he apparently began communicating to his friends using the phone. But as police zeroed in on him, he developed symptoms similar to those of Ebola and sought medication at the hospital.

                      While at hospital he reportedly confessed stealing the phone and has handed it to Kagadi police.
                      “Kagadi Police Station received that complaint and investigations are underway,” Mr John Ojokuna Elatu, the district police commander confirmed to Sunday Monitor. He, however, declined to reveal the identities of the suspect.

                      Confession
                      In his confession made to the police, the suspect, now patient, claimed he had visited the isolation ward to give them comfort although he confessed to knowing none in person.

                      The Kibaale District Health Officer, Dr Dan Kyamanywa, said: “The suspect is admitted at Kagadi Hospital with clinical signs of Ebola.” “He is receiving medication. We have obtained samples from him,” Mr Kyamanywa added. The Uganda Virus Research Institute had by press time not returned results of his tests.

                      The district Ebola taskforce on Wednesday registered four members of one family with symptoms similar to those of Ebola. The residents of Ngara LCI in Kyanaisoke Sub-county are in an isolation ward at Kagadi Hospital.

                      The number of patients discharged from hospital stands at 53 and 40 are being followed up. The taskforce vice chairman, Mr Stephen Mfashigabo, said over 380 contacts on Wednesday completed 21 days of follow up and have been declared Ebola negative.

                      Comment


                      • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

                        I wonder if he realized it was the ebola ward? Now they know security needs to be increased.

                        This article reports about how recovered patients suspected to have had ebola are being stigmatized - even if they tested negative:

                        http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Nation...z/-/index.html
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                        Comment


                        • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

                          The second article, from the Monitor, indicates in his confession that he told the nurses he was visiting the isolation ward to give comfort to the patients, in order to gain access to the ward. That suggests he knew it was an isolation ward.

                          I think he knew full well what he was doing. He probably didn't realize the risk to him. Clearly, one of the stupidest moves I have ever heard of. It would not surprise me if this incident ended up on the late-night talk shows worldwide. Steal a cell phone, get Ebola...

                          One of the amusing comments on one of the various versions of the article includes the observation that antivirus software won't remove the virus from that smart phone.

                          This also resets the 21 day clock since the isolation of the last case, delaying the containment of this outbreak by nearly three weeks.

                          Comment


                          • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

                            An unlucky crook caught the Ebola virus when he swiped a cell phone from a patient battling the disease at a hospital in western Uganda, the locus of an outbreak of the deadly fever. The 40-year-old thief snuck past security at Kagadi…


                            [snip]

                            While at the hospital, the man admitted to sneaking in and stealing the phone, which is worth about 60,000 Ugandan shillings, or around $24.

                            [snip]

                            Comment


                            • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

                              This case also highlights the fomite transmission potential of Ebola.

                              Comment


                              • Re: Uganda: Ebola Sudan identified in 17 deaths, 40 contacts being monitored, 380 have tested negative

                                From the moderator comments on:



                                The Ebola death toll has risen to 17 since the initial probable case was reported on 11th June 2012. Recent reports indicate that all the remaining Ebola confirmed cases have been discharged and there is none currently admitted in the isolation facility.

                                [But we know there are several probable, if not confirmed, cases in isolation, including the cell phone bandit. - alert]

                                Comment

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