Uganda
Ebola outbreak in Uganda officially over

afrol.com, 2 March - The deadly outbreak of Ebola in Uganda, which killed 224 people since last October, is now officially over, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) declared yesterday. WHO made its determination based on the fact that the last person to be infected by the virus recovered 42 days ago - twice the maximum incubation period for Ebola to develop.

The UN health agency credited the international response in support of the Government of Uganda with helping to stop the spread of the virus, which claimed among its victims the doctor who first identified the outbreak, Dr. Matthew Lukwiya. "The successful operation in Uganda emphasized what can be achieved when we identify epidemic threats rapidly and act together swiftly. Today we recognize the efforts of the people of Uganda, and the contributions and achievements of our partners," said WHO official David Heymann.

First reports from Gulu District of an unusual severe febrile illness reached the Ugandan Ministry of Health in Kampala on 8 October 2000. Even before the disease was formally identified as Ebola, the Government of Uganda facilitated rapid access to the outbreak area and partners in WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network responded with technical experts, protective equipment and logistics support for the Outbreak Response.

Initial laboratory confirmation was carried out by the National Institute of Virology in South Africa. A field laboratory was maintained at Lacor Hospital by CDC throughout the outbreak. This innovative measure guaranteed essential laboratory services for diagnostic tests to confirm or refute Ebola infection, and for packaging and transport of clinical samples requiring additional investigations.

- The mobilization of the local community in Gulu played a pivotal role in controlling the Ebola outbreak and is central to a new early-warning surveillance system for epidemic-prone diseases, the WHO stated. More than 20 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and government agencies from WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network worked together to combat the deadly disease. The agency yesterday paid particular tribute to institutions in the US, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Japan and the UK for their efforts, as well as those of Médecins sans Frontières, the Red Cross, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). 

Ebola haemorrhagic fever is one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in up to 90 per cent of all clinically ill cases. The virus was first identified in the Western Equatorial province of Sudan and in a nearby region of Zaire (now Congo Kinshasa, DRC) in 1976. Including the most recent outbreak, about 1500 cases with over 1000 deaths have been documented since the virus was discovered.

In the Ugandan Ebola outbreak, the lowest fatality rate of any outbraks was registered. While other outbreaks of Ebola have had a fatality rate between 60 and 90 percent, the fatality rate in Uganda was "only" 36%. The total recovery rate has been a record 64%. 

The high recovery rate may in part be attributed to the firm and well organised response to the outbreak, but also to the less fatal strain of the virus in Uganda. The Ebola strain in Uganda was a variety of the Sudan strain, with a fatality of between 50-70% in disease outbreaks in southern Sudan in 1976 and 1979. The background for the significant difference in fatality between other outbreaks of the Sudan strain and the Ugandan outbreak is still uncertain. Experienced health workers and a better health infrastructure will have plaid an important role.

Sources: Based on WHO and afrol archives 

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