Ebola Virus: Uganda Declares First Death Since 2019

Uganda’s health ministry has announced the outbreak of Ebola virus in the central district of Mubende after the country recorded its first fatality from the highly contagious virus since 2019.

“The confirmed case is a 24-year-old male… (who) presented with EVD symptoms and later succumbed,” the ministry said on Twitter, using an abbreviation for Ebola virus disease.

In a statement released earlier on Tuesday, the World Health Organization said a 24-year-old man in Mubende had tested positive for “the relatively rare Sudan strain” of the virus.

“This follows an investigation by the National Rapid Response team of six suspicious deaths that have occurred in the district this month,” WHO said.

WHO said eight other suspected patients were already undergoing treatment.

“This is the first time in more than a decade that Uganda is recording the Ebola Sudan strain,” WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti said.

“We are working closely with the national health authorities to investigate the source of this outbreak while supporting the efforts to quickly roll out effective control measures.”

The WHO said there have been seven previous outbreaks of the Sudan strain, including four times in Uganda and thrice in Sudan.

WHO said there have been seven previous outbreaks of the Sudan strain, including four times in Uganda and thrice in Sudan

Uganda — which shares a porous border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — has experienced several Ebola outbreaks in the past, most recently in 2019, when at least five people died.

Ebola is an often fatal viral hemorrhagic fever. The death rate is typically high, ranging up to 90 percent in some outbreaks, according to the WHO.