The Ugandan health authorities have confirmed nine cases of the Ebola virus in the capital Kampala. The Health Ministry says it has stepped up surveillance and set up an isolation center as confirmed cases in the country have risen to 90 with 28 deaths.
The Uganda Medical Association says health workers face challenges isolating patients. In a tweet Monday, Health Secretary Jane Ruth Aceng confirmed that Kampala had recorded 14 positive Ebola cases in the past 48 hours. They all have tribe from Sudan.
Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Ainebyoona said that the public needs to know that Ebola is now within reach, with contact numbers in Kampala now in excess of 1800. “There is Ebola in Kampala for sure. The beauty is that we already have an isolation center in Mulago," Ainebyoona said. “We build up on the pitch in Mulago. We have an isolation center in Entebbe.
And most of the people who are being tested are contacts who have been in our isolation and quarantine. In Aceng's tweet, he urged Ugandans to report if they or someone they know had contact with an Ebola patient. But health workers around the world say the country faces obstacles. dr Sam Oledo, President of the Uganda Medical Association, says the public's habit of seeking local remedies and treatments from herbalists remains a challenge and puts healthcare workers at risk.
"If you are a contact with someone who is in isolation, you denounce yourself and hide and predispose everyone," Oledo said. “But now it is the members of the community who will help us inform the authorities which herbalist, which African traditionalist is treating patients. The government is currently in the process of hiring nearly 1,500 additional workers to help fight the Ebola outbreak. There is currently no vaccine that has been proven to be effective against the Sudan Ebola strain. the UK Oxford vaccine and the US Sabin vaccine.
But authorities are waiting for approval from medical researchers before publishing them.
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