Uganda has confirmed three new Ebola cases, bringing the country’s total caseload to five.
This as authorities ramp up surveillance and intensify regional coordination efforts to contain the outbreak.
The new cases include two people linked to the country’s first patient, and an imported case from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain a public health emergency of international concern and said the risk of a national epidemic in the DRC is “very high”.
Nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded in Uganda’s neighbour, the centre of the outbreak.
WHO has said that late detection, the absence of a vaccine or virus-specific therapeutics, widespread armed violence and high mobility among the population make DRC especially vulnerable.
–Channel Africa–
