Ebola ravages Uganda as local doctor dies after treating victims

Dec 9 2007

With the latest reports suggesting that as many as 25 people have now fallen victim to the deadly virus, the new and mysterious strain of Ebola has infected some of the medical workers who treated patients without the aid of latex gloves and respirator gowns.

According to the Minister of State for primary health-care Dr. Emmanuel Otaala, eleven health workers treating Ebola patients have contracted the disease and four of them have died.

Among those was Dr. Jonah Kule who died on December 4 at Mulago Hospital from the hemorrhagic fever.

Dr. Kule who grew up in Bundibugyo, returned to the area after completing medical school in the capital city of Kampala.

Dr. Kule was one of the first to investigate the Ebola outbreak when it first appeared in October when rumours of a mysterious illness with fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and inexplicably rapid death initially surfaced.

Ebola appears to be ravaging parts of Uganda with another 104 people suspected of carrying the virus and hundreds more under close scrutiny.

Health authorities say although the situation remains serious it has started to improve in hospitals where the government has deployed additional personnel and protective equipment.

According to Sam Kazinga, the area's district commissioner, four people have recovered and are about to be discharged from Bundibugyo hospital and two others are about to be discharged from Kikyo health centre.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has urged the public to refrain from handshakes and kissing and the message is also being delivered by local radio stations and via public information campaigns.

Authorities fear the deadly virus will spread beyond the western Bundibugyo district which borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The World Health Organization and Ugandan officials are currently trying to track 327 people believed to have been in contact with the victims in order to assess their status.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Ebola hemorrhagic fever is lethal in humans, monkeys and other nonhuman primates.

Experts from the CDC are studying new blood and tissue samples from western Kanungu and Kasese districts and northwestern Adjuman district for possible Ebola infections.

The disease appeared for the first time 1976 and experts believe the virus is transmitted to humans by exposure to infected animals.

People infected with the virus suffer fever, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding from all body orifices and usually die of shock or respiratory failure or as a result of the massive bleeding, including bleeding in the lungs.

Ebola, which causes death in 50 to 90 percent of all those infected, has no specific treatment or vaccine and is spread by bodily fluids.

More than 1,850 human cases, including 1,200 deaths have been recorded and since the Ebola virus was first identified in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 1,850 human cases, including 1,200 deaths have been recorded.