The first confirmed Ebola patient from the latest outbreak in Uganda has passed on.
The 5-year-old boy passed away last night at around 9.30 pm. His younger 3-year-old brother and grandmother have since also tested positive.
The boy is said to have travelled across the border with his family from DR Congo on Sunday.He was then taken to a hospital after exhibiting symptoms, including vomiting blood, officials said.
According to minister of Health, Jane Ruth Aceng, in total, there are currently 7 suspects – 5 from the same family of the deceased boy who recently travelled to Democratic Republic of Congo and came back with four relatives through Bwera border in Kasese district.
The other suspects are of two Ugandans who have no connection to the family.
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that a key emergency committee would meet following confirmation that an Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo had spread to neighbouring Uganda.
The panel will meet on Friday to determine whether to declare the outbreak “a public health emergency of international concern,” a major shift in mobilisation against the disease, it said.
Ebola virus disease is a severe illness that is spread through contact with the body fluids such as vomit, blood and faeces of a person sick with the disease. The symptoms can be sudden and include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, sore threat.
