In less than four months since confirming it’s first case, health authorities in Uganda have declared an end to the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in the country.
This was first announced on the verified official twitter handle of the Ugandan Ministry of Health in the early hours of Wednesday, 11th January 2023.
Congratulations to team #Uganda. The country is officially declared #Ebola free. pic.twitter.com/rMoXndn21O
— Ministry of Health- Uganda (@MinofHealthUG) January 11, 2023
MedHealth.Info confirms this from a statement subsequently issued by the World Health Organization yesterday, congratulating the country on this great feat.
The Centre for Disease Control describes Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) as ‘a rare and deadly disease in people and nonhuman primates. The viruses that cause EVD are located mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. People can get EVD through direct contact with an infected animal (bat or nonhuman primate) or a sick or dead person infected with Ebola virus’. A country is declared Ebola-free after 42 days of zero active cases.
According to the statement from the WHO, it was the country’s first Sudan ebolavirus outbreak in a decade and its fifth overall for this kind of Ebola. In total there were 164 cases (142 confirmed and 22 probable), 55 confirmed deaths and 87 recovered patients. More than 4000 people who came in contact with confirmed cases were followed up and their health monitored for 21 days. Overall, the case-fatality ratio was 47%. The last patient was released from care on 30 November when the 42-day countdown to the end of the outbreak began.
Other countries currently dealing with the Ebola virus include Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
