WHO has posted a Global Alert & Response on Ebola in Uganda. Excerpt:
On 13 May 2011, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Uganda notified WHO of a case of Ebola Haemorrhagic fever in a 12 year old girl from Luwero district, central Uganda. On 6 May she presented to a private clinic in Zirobwe town, Luwero district, with a 5-day history of an acute febrile illness with haemorrhagic manifestations. She was later referred to Bombo General Military Hospital where she died few hours after admission.
Laboratory investigations at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), Entebbe, Uganda confirmed Ebola virus (Sudan species). A sample is on route to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA for additional analysis and sequencing.
A National Task Force has been convened by the MoH Uganda, which is working with several partners including WHO, CDC, the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) and USAID.
A joint MoH, WHO and CDC team was deployed to the district on 13 May to carry out a detailed epidemiological investigation. WHO will be supporting the MoH in the areas of epidemiology and infection control.
Meanwhile, Tara Smith at Aetiology has an informative new post on Ebola in pigs.
