The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned of the further spread of Ebola virus to neighbouring countries after the virus spread to Kampala, Uganda.
The WHO urged neighbouring countries to boost their preparedness against the deadly virus.
Uganda’s neighbouring countries include Kenya, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania.
WHO said since the declaration of the Ebola outbreak in the East African country on 20 September, the country has registered over 150 confirmed and probable cases, including 64 deaths.
‘Although these cases are linked to known clusters, the very fact that there are cases in a densely populated city underscores the very real risk of further transmission’, WHO Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told reporters.
‘There is a very urgent need for increased readiness in districts and surrounding countries’.
Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, with common symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea, and combatted through time-honoured ways of tracing, containing and quarantining.
The virus has been circulating in rural parts of Uganda since September but an outbreak in a place like Kampala is much more complex to deal with, as outbreaks are difficult to contain, especially in urban environments.
In Kampala, the population density and ease of mobility, including internationally, means the virus can easily travel through an infected but asymptomatic patient within a short period of time.
The particular strain now circulating in Uganda is known as the Sudan Ebola virus, for which there is currently no vaccine, although there are several candidate vaccines heading towards clinical trials.
Photo source: UNMEER
