afrol News, 5 December - An outbreak of the deadly Ebola haemorrhagic fever has claimed the lives of 16 people in Uganda's western district of Bundibugyo.

Ugandan health ministry officials have so far confirmed 51 suspected cases - including three health workers - in the district. One of the infected health workers succumbed to the fever.

Most health workers have been infected while treating Ebola patients through close contact without the use of correct infection control precautions and adequate barrier nursing procedures.

An initial field investigations conducted by Ugandan health officials and the WHO showed that the outbreak might have hit the country since September this year.

The presence of a new species of Ebola virus has been confirmed in samples that have been analysed at the National Reference Laboratories and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States of America.

The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons. Burial ceremonies where mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can play a significant role in the transmission of the disease.

It is believed that the humans handling of chimpanzees, gorillas, and forest antelopes - both dead and alive - resulted to their Ebola infection.

Ebola's symptoms include sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, which are often followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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