(1) Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 19:37:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promed.isid.harvard.edu>
Subject: PRO/EDR> Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02): WHO confirm.
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EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA (02): WHO CONFIRMATION
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A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail, a program of ISID
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[see also:

Unidentified hemorrhagic fever - Uganda 20001014.1757
Unidentified hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02) 20001015.1760
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda 20001016.1769]
[1]
Date: Tue 17 Oct 20000 06.03
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: WHO WER and Epidemiological Bulletin, Press Release, issued 16 Oct
2000 [edited]
<http://www.who.int/disease-outbreak-news/>
WHO Confirms First Outbreak Of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever In Uganda
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The World Health Organization (WHO), in conjunction with its partners in the
Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, is coordinating the
international response to an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in Gulu
District, northern Uganda. [The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network
is a technical partnership of national and international institutions and
smaller networks who mobilize and pool their resources so that outbreaks of
potential international importance are detected, verified and responded to
efficiently and effectively by the international community.]
Laboratory testing carried out at the National Institute of Virology in
South Africa indicates that the cause of the outbreak is Ebola virus. These
are the first cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever ever reported in Uganda. As
of 16 Oct 2000, 71 suspected cases, including 35 deaths, have been reported.
Cases were first reported in a local hospital in Gulu town and are now
occurring in the community. [Ebola haemorrhagic fever is one of the most
virulent viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in 50-90% of
cases. The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood,
secretions, organs or semen of infected persons. The Ebola virus was first
identified in 1976 in the western equatorial province of Sudan and in the
nearby region of Yambuku, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo,
formerly Zaire.]
The Ugandan Ministry of Health has established a National Task Force for he
Control of Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers, for managing the response to the
epidemic. WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health and this Task Force in
disease containment by: coordinating the international response to the
outbreak, implementing disease control measures, such as barrier nursing
procedures, case finding, contact tracing and monitoring, and supplying
protective equipment.
Epidemiologists from the WHO African Regional Office and the WHO office in
Kampala, Uganda are already assisting with investigation and implementation
of control measures. Drs Mike Ryan and Simon Mardel, epidemiologists from
WHO headquarters in Geneva, will leave for Uganda today in order to provide
further expertise in clinical management of cases and field investigation of
the outbreak. "WHO and its partners will work with the Ugandan authorities
to contain the disease in the outbreak zone and to reduce its spread in
local communities," Dr Ryan said. "It is very important that there is
effective coordination of the international response to this outbreak."
Initial funding for this rapid response has been provided by the governments
of Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Japan.
******
[2]
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 15:48:09 +0200
From: Andrew Jamieson <aj.plett@pixie.co.za>
Ebola Virus in Uganda confirmed by PCR Test
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The National Institute of Virology in Johannesburg, South Africa, has
confirmed by PCR test that Ebola virus is present in the current outbreak in
Uganda.
--
Dr Andrew Jamieson
British Airways Travel Clinics South Africa
<http://www.travelclinic.co.za>
******
[3]
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 12:30:24 GMT
From: M. Cosgriff <mcosgriff@hotmail.com>
Sources: Reuters News Agency, 16 Oct 2000 [edited]
Uganda's Neighbours Move To Stem Ebola Threat
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NAIROBI: Uganda's neighbors have moved swiftly to try to stem the spread of
the deadly Ebola virus which has killed at least 33 people in the east
African country in the past two weeks. Kenyan health authorities have sent a
medical team to Busia, the main border crossing point between Uganda and
Kenya, to try to identify and isolate suspected Ebola cases. Authorities in
Rwanda and Tanzania have also stepped up health checks, officials from those
countries said.
At least 63 people in northern Uganda in the past 2 weeks have contracted
a viral haemorrhagic fever that has now been identified by health
authorities as Ebola hemorrhagic fever. More than half have already died.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever is deadly in most cases, causing massive internal
haemorrhaging that results in bleeding through the eyes, ears, nose and
other orifices. It is named after a river in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo where it was first recognised in 1976 when an epidemic killed more
than 270 people. It has no vaccine or cure.
Kenyan health authorities confirmed on Monday that a team of public health
officers had been sent to Busia to try identify possible Ebola carriers. "We
cannot test for the disease since we do not have the necessary equipment,"
Busia acting district medical officer Dr Walter Kayaywa told the Nation
newspaper. Their task will be made all the more difficult by that fact that
hundreds of people cross the border at Busia every day while suffering from
other endemic illnesses such as malaria and AIDS-related diseases which show
similar early symptoms.
[Byline: David Fox]
*********
[4]
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 08:39:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kirk Greenway, MA, MPH <captainnemo1@yahoo.com>
Hemorrhagic Fever in Uganda : Viral Persistence & Soldier Vectors
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I wish to remind ProMED-mail [readers] of an earlier posting of mine where
I pointed to a group of Russian researchers who found that Marburg Virus is
quite persistent on surfaces at room temperature. It is likely only a few
index cases could generate such an outbreak if they were treated in a
hospital which cannot afford to use standard precautions. The virus, while
not as persistent as hepatitis B [virus], could spread rapidly even with
"fomite"-like transmission.
Given the proximity of the rich mining region of North Kivu and Haut Zaire
to that area of Uganda, and the likelihood of frequent patrols by Ugandan
troops, whatever strain of hemorrhagic fever the soldiers had possibly
taken home with them could still be from contact with people who work those
mines. My experience during the Rwandan civil disturbance of 1990 was that
Ugandan troops were drinking along side Rwandese soldiers in the same bars
in Gisenyi, Rwanda (near Goma, DRC). Penetration of Democratic Congolese
borders is probably just as easy for these soldiers.
--
Kirk Greenway, MA, MPH
Hyattsville, MD
<captainnemo1@yahoo.com>
[The positive identification of the etiological agent as Ebola virus makes a
link with Zaire less likely, particularly in view of the serological data
referred to by Professor Werner Slenczka in the previous post, which
revealed a low frequency of antibody reacting with Ebola virus and an
absence of antibody reacting with Marburg virus among the inhabitants of
northern Uganda. The Ugandan military deny that any soldier has contracted
Ebola fever, contrary to previous reports and rumour. - Mod.CP]
............................cp/es
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