Medical staff members of the Ebola treatment unit at Mubende Regional Hospital, Uganda, September 24, 2022. BADRU KATUMBA / AFP
The Ebola epidemic in Uganda has killed 29 people, including four health workers, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, concerned about the ineffectiveness of vaccines against the so-called “Sudanese” strain of the virus.
“Vaccines that have been used successfully to contain the recent Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are not effective against the type of Ebola virus responsible for this outbreak,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a conference in Uganda. “However, several vaccines against this virus are in various stages of development, two of which could begin clinical trials in Uganda in the coming weeks, pending regulatory and ethical approvals from the Ugandan government,” he said.
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Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, explained that there are about six vaccine candidates against the Sudanese strain of the Ebola virus, “mostly in very early stages of development”. “But three of them have human, immunogenicity and safety data so they can be used in the field as part of a ring vaccination campaign, as was done for the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a few years ago,” she said.
On September 20, the Ugandan Ministry of Health announced the Ebola virus “outbreak” in Uganda following the death of a 24-year-old young man. According to WHO-Africa, this case comes from a “relatively rare” so-called Sudanese strain, which had not been reported in Uganda since 2012. The cases and treating the symptoms greatly increase the chances of survival.
Raised over $2 million
So far, 63 confirmed and probable cases have been identified, including 29 deaths, said Dr. tedros 10 health workers were infected and 4 died. “When there are delays in detecting an Ebola outbreak, it is normal for cases to first steadily increase and then decrease as life-saving interventions and epidemic control measures are implemented,” the WHO chief said.
Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, Uganda’s health minister, announced the death of a 58-year-old anesthetist on Twitter early Wednesday. Uganda has seen outbreaks of Ebola, a disease discovered in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976. In 2000, 200 people died in Uganda during an epidemic in the north of the country.
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Beginning in December 2013 in southern Guinea, the deadliest Ebola epidemic in history swept through West Africa until 2016, killing more than 11,300 people. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has experienced more than a dozen epidemics since 1976, but these were caused by the “Zaire” strain, against which vaccines are effective. This hemorrhagic fever is transmitted to humans from infected animals. Transmission to humans occurs through bodily fluids with the main symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.
dr Tedros said the WHO released $2 million from its emergency reserve fund to help fight the outbreak in Uganda. The organization works with its partners to strengthen healthcare by sending specialists and medical supplies.
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President Yoweri Museveni ruled out a lockdown last week and said the country was able to contain the outbreak. The first cases were recorded in Mubende district in the center of the country before spreading to neighboring districts of Kassanda, Kyegegwa and Kagadi. Mubende is about a two-hour drive from the capital, Kampala, and is on a busy road that leads into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to WHO Africa, there are gold mines in the region that attract people from different parts of Uganda and other countries.
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