Ebola Virus

July 29 (UPI) — Uganda has declared itself Ebola-free, as the virus continues to spread in neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Uganda’s Foreign Ministry made the declaration Tuesday, saying Uganda discharged its last confirmed Ebola patient on June 16.

“The declaration follows the successful completion of all outbreak response measures and confirms that there has been no further transmission of the virus,” the ministry said in a statement.

Uganda declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15, after infected individuals crossed into Uganda from the DRC.

A total of 20 people were infected in Uganda’s outbreak, including 15 Congolese nationals and five Ugandans — four health workers and a driver. Two patients died from the virus, according to ministry statistics.

Despite the declaration, the ministry said the risk of Ebola importation remains high due to the ongoing outbreak in the DRC.

Minister Chris Baryomunsi urged residents online to remain alert and continue to observe health measures.

“We shall continue to support our brothers and sisters in DRC to contain the Ebola disease there,” he said.

The outbreak that affected Uganda and remains ongoing in the DRC is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, with the first suspected case reported involving a DRC health worker on April 24. The health worker later died.

There is no approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus.

According to the World Health Organization, there were 3,262 cases and 1,437 deaths to the outbreak, making it the largest outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus to date.

The United Nations health agency said the outbreak in the DRC continued to “intensify” with sustained transmission, increasing mortality and ongoing geographic spread within the country.

“Although no new cases have been reported outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, persistent transmission in areas connected by major national and cross-border mobility corridors continues to sustain a high risk of regional spread,” the WHO said earlier this week.

June 26 (UPI) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday increased its response level to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

In an update to reporters, Satish Pillai, the Ebola response incidence manager at the CDC, said public health officials were concerned about the rapid increase in and geographic spread of cases of the deadly virus. She said the CDC has upgraded its response to Level 1, making it a top priority.

“Elevating the response level reflects the urgency, scale and complexity of the outbreak, and allows [the] CDC to bring additional resources to support the coordination and operational needs of our response,” Pillai said.

The World Health Organization has confirmed more than 1,000 cases of Ebola and more than 260 deaths from the disease since the outbreak, which began in May. Most of the cases have been reported in eastern DRC, with a smaller number of cases spreading across the border into Uganda.

This Ebola outbreak has been linked to the Bundibugyo virus, making it particularly challenging to treat. Unlike the Ebola-zaire strains of the virus, there are no approved approved therapeutics or vaccines for the Bundibugyo strain, the WHO said.

Ebola was first identified in central Africa in 1976. The virus, which has a two- to 21-day incubation period, causes fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and, in some cases, internal and external bleeding. It can be transmitted from animals to humans and in human-to-human contact, including sexual intercourse.

While there’s no proven treatment specifically for the virus, people can survive through treatment of the symptoms, including oral and intravenous fluids, and immune and drug therapies.

June 24 (UPI) — A doctor who traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo was being treated for Ebola at a hospital in France, French officials said Wednesday.

The doctor was admitted to a special health facility and is in stable condition, the country’s health ministry said in a statement. Health workers are tracing anyone who may have come into contact with the doctor. Any contacts will be isolated for 21 days and closely monitored.

The DRC has had an outbreak of Ebola in recent months that has rocked the region. Fighting in the area, which has caused displacement, has made the outbreak worse, and the disease has spread into neighboring Uganda.

More than 1,000 cases have been confirmed and more than 260 people have died from the disease.

It’s the first confirmed European case, though an American doctor was treated at a German hospital in May. Dr. Peter Stafford has recovered and been released from the hospital.

The doctor in France works for the Alliance of International Medical Action, which has been working on the Ebola response in Congo, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, said in a news conference.

“This case is a reminder of the risks faced by frontline responders,” Tedros said. He added that 82 health care workers have become ill during the outbreak.

Last week the WHO said 17 health workers who had caught Ebola in Congo had died.

ALIMA said the ill doctor is a man who had been working in an area where the virus is.

“Contamination prevention measures have been in place since the beginning of our intervention to protect our teams,” ALIMA said in a statement.

The French health ministry said the risk of spreading the disease to the wider European population was low, citing the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Ebola spreads only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of a sick person.

June 1 (UPI) — Hundreds of residents in central Kenya marched Monday in protest of plans for a U.S.-run field hospital in which Americans exposed to Ebola would be treated and quarantined.

Officers from the U.S. Public Health Service would run the facility at Laikipia Air Base near Nanyuki, Kenya. The hospital was supposed to open last Friday. However, a Kenyan court blocked that opening, with another hearing set for Tuesday, The Washington Post reported.

Kenya has had no cases of Ebola in this outbreak thus far, but there have been about 1,000 cases worldwide, with about 200 suspected deaths, mostly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kenya has increased screening and security measures to lessen the risk of the disease spreading to the country.

Nanyuki residents said the hospital facility would endanger the lives of those living nearby.

“If it is not good for America, why is it good for us? Why does the U.S. only care about itself?” Gibson Maina, 25, said to The Washington Post. “The moment we get sick people here, how sure are we that we will be able to contain the disease and that we will be able to survive it?”

The protests were largely peaceful with “localized disruptions,” Capital News in Kenya reported. The Post, however, said some demonstrators set fires and “clashed with the police.”

Officials have said the hospital would keep U.S. citizens with Ebola from returning to the United States for treatment. Katiba Institute, a constitutional rights advocacy group in Kenya, filed the lawsuit that blocked the facility from opening.

The Law Society of Kenya has also opposed the hospital, Capital News reported. Charles Kanjama, leader of the society, said that Ebola treatment centers should be closed to the outbreaks and not in countries with no cases.

“We owe patients human solidarity, but public health requires facilities to be placed near outbreak epicenters,” Kanjama said.

Sarah Korere, a local leader, also said such a hospital should be closer to the problem areas.

“As residents of Nanyuki, we have said we do not want the Ebola rescue center in Nanyuki,” she said to Capital News. “And it’s not just Nanyuki; we’ve said we do not want it in Laikipia, and not yet Laikipia, we don’t want it in Kenya.”

Kenyan Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said any international agreement for Ebola treatment facilities must comply with Kenyan laws and public health protocols. The United States said in a statement last week that it was in talks with Kenyan officials after the lawsuit.