WEEKLY BULLETIN ON OUTBREAKS
AND OTHER EMERGENCIES
Week 9: 24 February - 2 March 2025
Data as reported by: 17:00; 2 March 2025
...
Uganda
Sudan Virus Disease
12 cases
4 Deaths
33.3% CFR
EVENT DESCRIPTION
The outbreak of Sudan Virus Disease (SVD) in Uganda,
last reported in our Weekly bulletin 6 (03–09 February
2025), continues with a new case confirmed in Kampala.
On 1 March 2025, the Ministry of Health of Uganda
reported its 10th case in the ongoing outbreak, which
was first notified to WHO on 30 January 2025.
The new case is a 4-year-old male child, resident of
Kabuli, Kakungulu Zone, Makindye Division, Kampala.
The child was initially taken to a health facility in Kibuli,
Kakungulu Zone for care on 15 February 2025, following
onset of illness. On 17 February 2025, following lack of
improvement, the child was taken to a second health
facility in Gayaza, Wakiso District, north of Kampala. As
the illness progressed, he was moved to a third facility
in Watubba, Wakiso District on 22 February 2025.
Following clinical examinations, he was referred to a
fourth health facility in Kampala, where he was admitted
on 23 February 2025.
Unfortunately, the child died on
24 February 2025 while in admission at the fourth health
facility, and was buried on 25 February 2025.
Post-mortem sample was collected on 25 February
2025 as part of routine mortality surveillance for viral
haemorrhagic fevers and sent to the Uganda Virus
Research Institute (UVRI) for testing. Initial RT-PCR
test
results returned positive for Sudan virus infection on 27
February 2025, with repeat tests confirming the result.
The child’s mother had given birth to a newborn on 23
January 2025 at a health facility in Kampala. She died on
6 February 2025, following an acute illness. The newborn
later died on 12 February 2025. No laboratory tests
were conducted following their deaths, and they were
respectively buried. These two deaths are considered
probable cases given their link to the 10th confirmed
case.
The 10th case was not a know contact. Retrospective
investigation is ongoing to determine the link between
the 10th case and previous cases. A total of 201
new contacts have been identified as of 2 March
2025. Contact tracing and further epidemiological
investigations are ongoing.
From 30 January to 02 March 2025, a cumulative total of
12 cases (including two probable cases) with four deaths
(CFR 33.3%) have been reported from five districts in the
country, namely; Wakiso (n=4), Kampala (n=5), Mbale
(n=1), Jinja (n=1), and Mukono (n=1) across Uganda.
Of these, five cases with one death have been reported
among health workers. On 18 and 19 February 2025,
Uganda discharged all eight SVD cases admitted in
treatment facilities after they fully recovered. As of 2
March 2025, there are no confirmed cases in admission.
A total of 265 contacts previously under follow-up also
completed 21 days of monitoring as of 02 March 2025.
PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS
The Ministry of Health of Uganda, with technical
support from WHO and health partners, continues to
lead the outbreak response through a national incident
management team. At the subnational level, district task
forces are coordinating operational activities to ensure
an effective local response.
Active surveillance continues, with community health
workers reporting daily alerts, which are investigated
by district response teams. Since the onset of the
outbreak, a total of 1 145 alerts have been reported and
investigated as of 2 March 2025. Mortality surveillance
is also ongoing, with routine swabbing of deceased
individuals to test for viral haemorrhagic fevers. Of the
778 swabs collected and tested, one returned positive
for Sudan Virus Disease.
Case investigation and contact tracing continue, with
201 new contacts of the latest confirmed case identified
for monitoring. Additionally, travellers screening at 13
points-of-entry (PoEs) remains in place, with 25 364
travellers screened as of 2 March 2025.
Laboratory capacity is available for diagnosis and
genomic sequencing at the Uganda Virus Research
Institute (UVRI).
There are three treatment units at Mulago, Mbale, and
Jinja, with capacities of 84, 28, and 8 beds, respectively.
All eight admitted confirmed cases have recovered and
been discharged. There is currently no confirmed case
in admission.
Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures are
being routinely implemented, including decontamination
of hospital wards visited by the last confirmed case.
Risk communication and community engagement
efforts are ongoing, leveraging mass media, community
dialogues, and awareness campaigns in churches,
markets, schools, and other public gatherings to
ensure widespread public awareness and adherence to
preventive measures.
SITUATION INTERPRETATION
The confirmation of a new SVD case in Kampala highlights the risk of undetected transmission, particularly given
the delayed diagnosis and the child’s movement across multiple healthcare facilities. The retrospective link to the
primary outbreak cluster reveals gaps in contact tracing and surveillance. Additionally, the lack of prior testing for the
deceased mother and newborn raises concerns about missed cases. With no active cases currently in admission
and all previous patients discharged, there is a critical window of opportunity to interrupt transmission. This requires
enhanced surveillance, thorough case investigation and contact tracing, and strict adherence to IPC measures.
Scaling up risk communication and community engagement is essential to counter potential resistance, encourage
early healthcare-seeking behaviour, and enhance community surveillance efforts.
https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/380693
Uganda
