Via Wolfgangthome's Blog: Marburg outbreak not a threat to tourists claim officials. Excerpt:
Officials from the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Uganda Tourist Board have gone on record yesterday in Kampala, trying to calm the jitters which have spread across the tourism sector last week when an outbreak of the Marburg fever was confirmed through tests at the Uganda Virus Research Institute and the CDC in Atlanta.
Five people have died and several dozen more are under confinement and quarantine to avoid the spread of the disease further, in a similar approach which last month saw the successful elimination of an Ebola outbreak.
Both diseases are suspected to have been brought into the country through refugees from Congo, who fled the intense fighting in the border region with Uganda and Rwanda.
Tourism sources, shy to go on the record, expressed their concern that this second outbreak may put a dent into an otherwise successful tourism year, marked by the accolade from the Lonely Planet Guide Book company which had named Uganda as the top destination for 2012, the celebrations of 50 years of Independence from Britain and the competitive advantage since June of charging only 500 US Dollars for a gorilla tracking permit compared to the 750 US Dollars per person in neighbouring Rwanda.Meanwhile, the Public Health Agency of Canada has posted an advisory for travellers to Uganda.
