Uganda: Ebola attacks six minors from the same family

Six children from one family have tested positive for the Ebola virus in Kampala.

The children are members of a family of seven exposed to the disease by a relative who travelled from the Ebola-hit district of Kassanda, seeking treatment in Kampala. The relative later died in the capital.

One of the children, currently in isolation, is meant to sit his final primary school exams on 8 November.

The schools where the children attend have not been closed.

Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said that 170 contacts have been listed from that one case.

She added that she was increasingly concerned about urban transmission of haemorrhagic fever because of its complexity, due to the big populations and frequent mobility.

Fears that Ebola could spread far from the outbreak’s epicentre resulted in authorities imposing an ongoing lockdown, including nighttime curfews, on two of the five districts where Ebola cases have been recorded.

To date, there have been 30 deaths and 109 confirmed Ebola cases in Uganda.

The government is considering starting vaccine trials against the Sudan strain of the virus, which broke out 35 days ago.

The Ugandan health ministry has reported that about 3,000 contacts of people who got infected with the disease will be considered to receive the vaccines.

The head of the Uganda Medical Association on Tuesday urged health authorities to impose a lockdown in Kampala, a stringent measure that the country’s president has previously been reluctant to implement.