Finally, Uganda Is Free From Ebola Virus

Uganda on Wednesday declared end of the Ebola disease outbreak caused by the Sudan ebolavirus, less than four months after the first case was confirmed in the country’s central Mubende district on September 20, 2022.

“We have successfully controlled the Ebola outbreak in Uganda,” Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said at a ceremony in the central district of Mubende where the disease was first detected in September.

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This was made known in a statement issued by the World Health Organization.

Aceng said January 11 marked 113 days since the start of the outbreak of the often fatal haemorrhagic fever in the East African country.

WHO stated that an outbreak of the disease ends when there are no new cases for 42 consecutive days – twice the incubation period of Ebola.

“Uganda put a swift end to the Ebola outbreak by ramping up key control measures such as surveillance, contact tracing and infection, prevention and control. While we expanded our efforts to put a strong response in place across the nine affected districts, the magic bullet has been our communities who understood the importance of doing what was needed to end the outbreak, and took action,” said Dr Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, Uganda’s Minister of Health.

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It was the country’s first Sudan Ebolavirus outbreak in a decade and its fifth overall for this kind of Ebola.

In total, there were 164 cases (142 confirmed and 22 probable), 55 confirmed deaths and 87 recovered patients. More than 4000 people who came in contact with confirmed cases were followed up and their health was monitored for 21 days. Overall, the case-fatality ratio was 47%.

It said Uganda’s outbreak was caused by the Sudan Ebola virus, one of six species of the Ebola virus for which no vaccines have yet been approved.

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