Somalia on high alert as first case of deadly Ebola virus reported in Uganda

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: The Somalia government, through the Ministry of Health, said Wednesday it’s on high alert following an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in neighbouring Uganda.

The Ministry of Health said it was already in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Aviation and other relevant agencies to ensure that prevention and response measures are put in place to stop the disease from spreading into the country.

“The Ministry of Health will be using health experts within the country in close coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) to start all necessary preparations and response to Ebola, including screening all travelers from Uganda,” it said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. 

Ugandan authorities said Tuesday they had detected an Ebola case in Ngabano village, Mubende district in the central part of the country, and a 24-year-old male patient has already succumbed to the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever. 

Previous Ebola outbreaks in Uganda have been reported to have been significantly influenced by outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Health experts on Tuesday urged Uganda to focus on preventing and controlling the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, noting that there is no vaccine against the rare Sudan strain that has been confirmed in the country.

At least three previous Ebola virus outbreaks have occurred in Uganda, the deadliest of which occurred in 2000, and resulted in hundreds of fatalities.