newYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
An Ebola outbreak has been declared in Uganda after health officials confirmed a relatively rare case of the Sudanese strain, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
A 24-year-old man in the Mubende district of central Uganda developed symptoms and later died.
Undersecretary of Health Diana Atwain said the confirmed patient had a high fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain and was vomiting blood. He was initially treated for malaria.
East Congo to begin Ebola vaccination after new cases reported
The WHO Africa office said in a statement that eight suspected cases are currently being treated at a health facility, adding that it is assisting Ugandan health authorities in investigating and deploying staff to the affected areas. rice field.
The WHO said there have been seven previous outbreaks of the Ebola-Sudan strain, four in Uganda and three in Sudan.
Uganda last reported an outbreak of Ebola Sudan in 2012 and an outbreak of Ebola Zaire in 2019.
New Ebola infection in eastern Congo linked to devastating 2018 outbreak
WHO says ring vaccination of high-risk populations with the Ervebo vaccine has been highly effective in curbing the spread of recent Ebola outbreaks such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the vaccine is only approved for protection against the Zaire strain. said it was. .
Another vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N may be effective but has not yet been specifically tested against the Sudanese strain, he added.