Published Date: 2008-02-21 13:00:17
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (04): (Bundibugyo), WHO
Archive Number: 20080221.0704

EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - UGANDA (04): (BUNDIBUGYO), WHO
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Date: Wed 20 Feb 2008
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) Epidemic and Pandemic Alert
and Response (EPR) disease outbreak news [edited]
<http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_02_20b/en/index.html>


End of Ebola outbreak in Uganda
-------------------------------
The Ministry of Health, Uganda has declared today [20 Feb 2008] the
end of the Ebola epidemic in Bundibugyo. The last person to be
infected by the virus was discharged on 8 Jan 2008. This is more than
double the maximum incubation period (42 days) for Ebola.

A national task force coordinated the response to this outbreak,
comprising MoH, WHO and other international partners in the field,
including experts from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF - Switzerland),
African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and World Population Foundation (WFP).
International technical and operational coordination was supported
through the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), and
networks of regional experts and technical institutions..

The Ugandan Government, WHO, and other partners, established an
active surveillance system for the detection of cases and follow-up
of their contacts. Mobile district teams were sent to the field to
investigate rumours, obtain clinical specimens for laboratory tests,
hospitalize patients, and monitor their contacts. Mobile teams,
including trained Red Cross volunteers, followed up a cumulative
total of 804 contacts on a daily basis. Isolation wards were
established at hospitals in Kikyo and Bundibugyo, and training was
provided for health care workers and auxiliary staff in appropriate
triage and infection control measures. A cumulative total of 77
patients were treated in both isolation facilities.

Laboratory experts from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA, provided support to the Uganda Virus
Research Institute (UVRI) in diagnosis and analysis of samples.
Specimens from suspected cases were collected and referred for
laboratory confirmation to a joint CDC and UVRI team in Entebbe, Uganda.

Laboratory analysis undertaken at CDC has confirmed that the virus
outbreak is different from the 3 African Ebola species (namely Zaire,
Sudan, and Ivory Coast species) and should be considered as a new
species of Ebola virus.

The Ministry of Health and IFRC conducted intensive social
mobilization activities, including the use of radio broadcasts and
mobile film vans to reach at-risk communities. Fact sheets,
brochures, and posters were also distributed.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Marianne Hopp

[The final total of cases treated is given here as 77. This statement
differs considerably from the figures given on Fri 4 Jan 2008 by the
Ugandan director general of Health Services, indicating that the
cumulative total of Ebola patients at that time stood at 149 with 37
deaths. A clear breakdown of the final figures would be welcomed, as
would information on the possible source of this new species of Ebola virus.

[An interactive map of the Bundibugyo region of Western Uganda is
available at <http://www.maplandia.com/uganda/bundibugyo/>. - Mod.CP]

See Also

Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (03): Arua, susp 20080122.027
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02): (Bundibugyo) 20080107.0092
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda: (Bundibugyo) 20080104.0050
2007
-----
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (10): (Bundibugyo) 20071212.3996
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (09): (Bundibugyo) 20071209.3972
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (08): (Bundibugyo) 20071208.3965
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (07): (Bundibugyo), WHO 20071207.3950
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (06): (Bundibugyo) 20071206.3933
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (05): (Bundibugyo) 20071204.3917
Ebola hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (04): (Bundibugyo) 20071203.3903
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (04): (Bundibugyo), Ebola confirmed 20071130.3859
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (03): (Bundibugyo) 20071121.3775
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02): (Bundibugyo), Marburg NOT 20071116.3718
Hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (Bundibugyo): Marburg susp., RFI 20071114.3697
...................................cp/mj/mpp

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