KAMPALA: Ugandan health authorities on Monday reported two new Ebola cases, bringing the number of infections to seven.
All the cases are linked to the outbreak in neighbouring Congo, which appears to have started several days or weeks before Congolese authorities declared it on May 15.
A 59-year-old Congolese man was admitted to a hospital in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, on May 11, and died three days later, before it was known he was suffering from the Ebola virus. Two other Congolese nationals who sought medical care in Uganda later tested positive for Ebola.
Ugandan health authorities on Saturday confirmed the first local infections: a driver and a health worker exposed to the Congolese patient who died on May 11. Two more health workers at a private hospital in Kampala have tested positive, the Ministry of Health said Monday.
In Congo, suspected Ebola cases have topped 900, mainly in eastern Ituri province, where the ongoing outbreak is centred, authorities said Sunday. The response has been hampered by fear, anger and frustration among locals including attacks on treatment centres, as well as distrust of authorities in a region long plagued by armed violence.
The outbreak has been declared a global health emergency. The Bundibugyo type of Ebola virus responsible for the outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment.