06-13-2019, 03:31 PM
** 13-Jun-2019 Ebola spreads from DR Congo to Uganda
Ebola continues to spread in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. There have been over 2,000
cases of Ebola, with over 1,400 deaths since the outbreak began in
August, 2018. There is a huge ethnic war going on in those two
provinces, and the war is preventing health workers from containing
the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been reluctant to declare the
oubreak as "A Public Health Emergency of International Concern," since
up until this week the diseased has not crossed national borders into
Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi or South Sudan. However, with two cases
confirmed in Uganda in the last three days, WHO is holding an
emergency meeting to make a new assessment.
Apparently a Uganda family recently crossed over into DRC to attend
the funeral of a relative who had died of Ebola. When they returned
to Uganda, family members started showing fevers and other symptoms of
Uganda. The family's five-year-old boy died on Tuesday, and his
50-year-old grandmother died on Thursday morning. Other members of
the same family are exhibiting symptoms.
Health officials have reacted by sending the entire family back to
DRC. That means that there are no longer any confirmed Ebola cases in
Uganda. However, contact tracing is continuing in Uganda to track
down people who had come in contact with the family, and hundreds of
health workers in western Uganda are being vaccinated. In addition,
Uganda has banned all public gatherings in the Kasese district, in
western Uganda.
Health officials in DRC are now using clear plastic body bags at
funerals, rather than black body bags. This permits family members to
see their dead relatives at funerals, without having to touch them and
risk contracting Ebola.
---- Sources:
-- Ebola spreads in Uganda—2 deaths, 27 in contact—as WHO calls
emergency meeting
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/06/...y-meeting/
(ArsTechnica, 13-Jun-2019)
-- Ebola / DRC / Uganda bans public gatherings in Kasese district amid
Ebola fears
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/u...14340.html
(AlJaz, 13-Jun-2019)
-- DRC / Ebola outbreak: Grandmother dies in Uganda
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48622635
(BBC, 13-Jun-2019)
Ebola continues to spread in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. There have been over 2,000
cases of Ebola, with over 1,400 deaths since the outbreak began in
August, 2018. There is a huge ethnic war going on in those two
provinces, and the war is preventing health workers from containing
the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been reluctant to declare the
oubreak as "A Public Health Emergency of International Concern," since
up until this week the diseased has not crossed national borders into
Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi or South Sudan. However, with two cases
confirmed in Uganda in the last three days, WHO is holding an
emergency meeting to make a new assessment.
Apparently a Uganda family recently crossed over into DRC to attend
the funeral of a relative who had died of Ebola. When they returned
to Uganda, family members started showing fevers and other symptoms of
Uganda. The family's five-year-old boy died on Tuesday, and his
50-year-old grandmother died on Thursday morning. Other members of
the same family are exhibiting symptoms.
Health officials have reacted by sending the entire family back to
DRC. That means that there are no longer any confirmed Ebola cases in
Uganda. However, contact tracing is continuing in Uganda to track
down people who had come in contact with the family, and hundreds of
health workers in western Uganda are being vaccinated. In addition,
Uganda has banned all public gatherings in the Kasese district, in
western Uganda.
Health officials in DRC are now using clear plastic body bags at
funerals, rather than black body bags. This permits family members to
see their dead relatives at funerals, without having to touch them and
risk contracting Ebola.
---- Sources:
-- Ebola spreads in Uganda—2 deaths, 27 in contact—as WHO calls
emergency meeting
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/06/...y-meeting/
(ArsTechnica, 13-Jun-2019)
-- Ebola / DRC / Uganda bans public gatherings in Kasese district amid
Ebola fears
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/u...14340.html
(AlJaz, 13-Jun-2019)
-- DRC / Ebola outbreak: Grandmother dies in Uganda
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48622635
(BBC, 13-Jun-2019)
