Ebola WARNING: Deadly virus could spread to Uganda – ‘The situation is precarious’
HEALTH chiefs have said the risk of Ebola escaping out of the Democratic Republic of Congo is ”very high”.
By Charlotte Ikonen
DailyStar.co.uk
1st October 2018
World Health Organisation (WHO) bosses issued the dire warning after two new confirmed Ebola cases were recorded near the Congolese border with Uganda.
The outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever in northeastern Congo is now larger than the previous one in the northwest and more complicated to contain because of a dense, highly mobile population and a rebel threat so serious that some health workers say they’re operating in a war zone.
A deadly attack in Beni, the heart of Ebola containment efforts, forced the work to be suspended for two days last week.
That led the WHO’s emergencies chief, Peter Salama, to warn that insecurity, public defiance about vaccinations and politicians fanning fears ahead of elections in December could create a “perfect storm” leading the outbreak to spread.
In the last report WHO released, officials stated that, at that moment, there were 124 confirmed Ebola cases, including 71 deaths.
And now they fear the disease could spread to Uganda after two cases were recorded near the Congo border.
The first was a woman who had participated in burials of Ebola victims and refused a vaccination in Beni and disappeared, local officials said.
She died on September 20 at a hospital in Tshomia on Lake Albert, which separates the countries.
The second confirmed Ebola case in Tshomia was the woman’s partner, WHO said.
Uganda, which has had five Ebola outbreaks since 2000, says it is preparing to begin vaccinations as needed.
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