Panic spreads as Uganda reports 101 Ebola cases

[Mojorabbit]

Source: alertnet

By Tim Cocks

KAMPALA, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Uganda has 101 suspected cases of Ebola fever and hundreds more people being closely monitored, officials said on Friday, as fear grew in Uganda and neighbouring countries that the deadly virus might spread.
Twenty two people have so far died of the fever and Minister of State for primary health-care Dr. Emmanuel Otaala told journalists 11 health workers have fallen sick.

"Cumulatively, we have 101 cases," he said.
Another 338 people are being monitored because they came into contact with those infected by the virulent haemorrhagic fever, which often causes victims to bleed to death through the ears, eyes and other orifices.

snip

The outbreak, which started in August, has sparked panic amongst officials, health workers and the public, with the medical union calling on staff to refuse looking after patients unless they are issued proper protective gear.

snip
The independent Daily Monitor said Congo had sealed its border with the district. Congolese officials denied this.
"We have just informed people in the region they need to be vigilant," Congolese Health Ministry official Dr Benoit Kabela told Reuters by telephone from Kinshasa. Kabela said medical staff had been deployed and given protective gear.
Meanwhile, southwestern neighbour Rwanda said it had set up mobile clinics and isolation wards at border posts with Uganda.

snip
Kenya is also screening Ugandans at its western border.
The four-month delay between the start of the outbreak and confirmation last week that it was Ebola has raised suspicions the government covered it up so as not to scare delegates -- Britain's Queen Elizabeth and 53 heads of government -- who met in Kampala two weeks ago for a Commonwealth summit.

The government denies it hid information. "Confirmation of this epidemic took a long time because we had to go to (the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in) Atlanta," Otaala said.





Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07634188.htm

---

Also Rwanda has set up a hotline and "The government also has set up isolation facilities in all medical centres the border posts with Uganda and DRCongo. "Isolation facilities at all medical centres close to the border posts are being set up and whoever will be suspected to be carrying the virus will be put in those isolation cubicles," it said.

The ministry has also trained a mobile medical team that will be in charge of emergency intervention in case the outbreak spills over to Rwanda.

The team will be on alert 24 hours and would also be in charge of offering timely treatment, in case of a spill over. "
from
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1173544/rwanda_sets...

[sasquatch]

1. Jesus

[ChazII]

2. scary news n/t

[Mojorabbit]

3. Yes

and it is getting a bit hairy there. People are fleeing the area, some who may be infected. They are discouraging handshaking as it could be a means of transmitting it. Health care workers are dead and or sick. People are crowing the hospital in vain to be seen.

A few more articles.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/74101
a snip from this one
Some scientists think the new strain of Ebola may be a milder form than earlier strains, which is not necessarily good news-the high mortality rate has previously helped keep transmission levels low, as infected people got sick and died before they could infect too many others. A mild version of Ebola could, in theory, spread more effectively through populations-though health officials are quick to say that there's no solid evidence that this strain is spreading more quickly than past outbreaks

and
""This virus is spreading by the foot of the hills," Ssesanga says, referring to the many people who may be affected but are trying to flee the region. "Running away is the worst thing people can do now."

Another article
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712071104.html
At Mulago Hospital, where Dr. Jonah Kule, a medic from Bundibugyo, died of suspected Ebola on Tuesday night, some sections were paralysed yesterday as health workers feared to handle patients without appropriate protective gear. In the casualty ward, Saturday Vision saw empty glove boxes and plastic containers meant to carry disinfectants. By about 11:00am, a crowd of patients was outside the casualty ward waiting in vain to be called in, while others went home frustrated. In emergency ward 3B, some workers wore masks, white gumboots and gloves, while others did not. Meanwhile, in the out-patient department in Old Mulago, work was going on normally except for the low turn up of patients compared to other days. The hospital director could not be reached for comment as he was in marathon meetings.



News is coming so fast as it moves that they are out of date in hours.

[ChazII]

16. A good and fast read for Ebola

is The Hot Zone. I forget who the author is but the book was one of recommended readings for my son's science class.

[mac2]

4. Ebola in Africa...

Biological weapons to spread fear and chaos for the Empire builders to bring about the African Union? Just wondering.

All boarders should be sealed and the area with this disease isolated. Otherwise it spreads throughout the world community. That includes plane and boat travel out of the area.

[Mojorabbit]

6. It is a mutation

A new strain. The borders are porous from what I am reading and Kenya will probably be next unless they get a handle on it. Doctors without Borders are headed there.

From this article http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SHES-79NRP...
"We are investigating cases in Mbale (near the Kenyan border), where one man has died and in Masaka (near Lake Victoria), where two fishermen have symptoms similar to those of Ebola," he added.

The person that last died on Fri was another Doctor.

[davsand]

11. I'm not seeing anything about it being airborne

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I honestly have not seen anything to indicate this strain is airborne (thus more easily transmitted.) I am seeing that it is transmitted by body fluids (blood, sweat and other excretions) and that is pretty much the same as what they had already encountered with the virus.

Ebola, by all accounts is a pretty fragile little virus. From what I can recall of it, Ebola usually doesn't survive well when exposed to UV nor does it do well for very long in open air. The big problem in controlling the early outbreaks was in the early stages when nobody realized they should be worried about fluids from dead bodies and patients. This may prove to be true in this outbreak as well.

What I AM seeing, however, is a lower reported death rate with this new strain--somewhere around 22% according to Reuters. That is a lot lower than what they had been seeing, and it would suggest that either supportive care has improved or that the bug has been weakened in this particular mutation.

I have got to tell you, this shit still scares hell out of me. That is a most unhappy way to die and I hope to hell nobody got on an airplane while they were brooding this stuff.





Laura

[Mojorabbit]

12. No

It isn't airborn thank goodness! We'd be in a world of hurt if so.

WHo did a genetic test on it and from their website. "Laboratory analysis undertaken at the National Reference Laboratories and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA has confirmed the presence of a new species of Ebola virus in samples taken from cases associated with the outbreak."

and from another site "Dr. Zaramba says the current outbreak in western Uganda is particularly worrisome because it is a strain of the Ebola virus that scientists have never seen before."

Yep, it is passed by bodily fluids and people who get it are having fever,vomiting and diarrhea and a rash. So it would be passed by touch. It seems to be passing easier per an above snip from an article.
"The director of medical services advised those travelling to Uganda to ensure that they avoid any contact with Ebola patients or their body fluids, including needles or medical waste. "

From post #3
Some scientists think the new strain of Ebola may be a milder form than earlier strains, which is not necessarily good news-the high mortality rate has previously helped keep transmission levels low, as infected people got sick and died before they could infect too many others. A mild version of Ebola could, in theory, spread more effectively through populations-though health officials are quick to say that there's no solid evidence that this strain is spreading more quickly than past outbreaks.

[davsand]

13. You'd THINK that with HIV being such an issue they'd be more worried about fluids.

I'm not being snarky when I say it, but given the issues the medical communities have faced with the incidence of AIDS in Africa I'd think the medical staff would be fairly educated (read as way paranoid!) already when it comes to body fluids and sick people.

I realize that money and funding for supplies is a horrible issue there, but you simply can't afford to kill off what few trained medical people you have. The tragedy is compounded by the death of the people trying so hard to help...





Laura

[Mojorabbit]

14. When you think about it though

I can see where the problem would start. You have a family member. They get sick and start running a fever and throwing up. You help clean them up and change the laundry and bam, you are also infected.
I agree with you re the hospitals but it seems they are really short on supplies. It is a sad thing all the way around.

[MetaTrope]

5. Is the epicenter another gold mine wrested from Poppy's favorite employer, Barrick Gold?

Of course, details on Barrick's ownership of the mine at Durba has been wiped thoroughly from the web, leaving only traces like this:

Swanepoel was on the team that identified last year's Marburg outbreak in Congo. Named after the German city where it claimed the lives of several lab workers, Marburg hemorrhagic fever is, if anything, even more cryptic than ebola. It snuffed out scores of people in Durba, a rebel-held town where Canadian gold-mining operations had disturbed big swaths of rain forest.Miners were dropping dead in excrement-fouled tunnels, Swanepoel said, and their colleagues were working right atop the buried bodies. On hearing of the outbreak, neighboring Uganda slammed its border shut.

By a strange coincidence, Stephen Hatfill (whose name cropped up repeatedly in the 2001 anthrax attacks) was researching the Marburg virus as a weapon for a federal biodefense contractor at the time...

[Mojorabbit]

7. This is in Uganda

but I think it borders the Congo. My geographical knowledge of the area is pretty pitiful.

[Mojorabbit]

8. New Ebola fatalities push Uganda toll to 25

two more dead

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071208/wl_africa_afp/heal...

KAMPALA (AFP) - A dreaded Ebola outbreak has killed two people, bringing the toll to 25 in western Uganda, an official said Saturday, as health teams battled to contain the virulent strain in the region.



Health authorities continued to monitor hundreds of quarantined people who had contacts with the Ebola victims in Bundibugyo district, home to 250,000 people and the outbreak's epicentre.

"Two people died last night in Bundibugyo, bringing the death toll to 25," said Sam Okware, a health ministry official heading the battle against the disease.

The mysterious strain has so far infected 104 people -- including the 25 dead -- some of them medical workers who treated patients without latex gloves and respirator gowns.

Experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were studying new blood and tissue samples from western Kanungu and Kasese districts and northwestern Adjuman district for possible Ebola infections.

[loudsue]

9. There is no cure for this virus. It's quick & deadly.

This is worse...much worse...than the plague that wiped out 2/3 of Europe in the 14th century.

[Mojorabbit]

10. Let's hope no one gets on a plane

who has been infected.

[BreweryYardRat]

24. 1/3.

But other than that, yeah.

[Mojorabbit]

15. update

http://www.redpepper.ug/news.php?item=1597
Ebola Puts Kyenjojo On Bukenke


AN EBOLA scare has hit Kyenjojo district very hard. As we report this, people here no longer hug, shake hands, visit, touch anything of common use, shaft or even wave. This follows scaring tales from neighboring Kabarole and Bundibugyo where the deadly viral disease originated.

The state of fear has been worsened by the death of a man in Kyenjojo town council from a disease with all signs like those of Ebola. Now, business is on a stand still because people fear to touch anything ion sale and money. Kyenjojo has been supplying Bundibugyo with a lot of produce and food with traders going to and from. These are causing tremendous fear that they might import the deadly virus which kills in a matter of days.

Some locals were already beginning to flee. District leaders especially the district woman MP, Joyce Kwebiiha (Maama Mission) are appealing for calm and caution in this trying time. “We are doing all it takes to safe guard you from the disease and we are working with government. Just be calm and report any suspicious cases you see as soon as possible,” Kwebiiha is appealing.

snip
_______________
Suman 25 killed by Ebola in Uganda

AFP

The Ministry of Health reported that the figure increased after three people died in the last 48 hours.

Kampala. An Ebola epidemic caused at least 25 deaths in Uganda, new stock after the announcement of three more victims in the past 48 hours, health sources reported Saturday.

Hundreds of people are in quarantine in the district of Bundibugyo, which has been located at the center of the epidemic.

"Two people died last night," said Sam Okware, an official of the Ministry of Health in charge of the fight against this deadly disease.

So far the outbreak has infected 104 people - including 25 dead, some of them members of health teams, which catered to patients without latex gloves or masks.

The center of the epidemic is also very close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2007/12/08/suman-25-...
------------------------

Ebola Spreads To Kabarole


The RDC Kabarole Kakonge Kambarage has asked residents to be extra conscious about the outbreak of the deadly Ebora disease which has claimed over 30 people in Bundibugyo and is now reported in Kabarole. The RDC made the call following the death of one person in Kicwamba sub-county, an area that borders Bundibugyo. It is said the deceased reportedly died with all Ebola symptoms.

In a related development, Kabarole District health officer Dr Jao Okech Ojony has asked people to desist from the greeting culture of shaking hands to avoid contracting Ebola which is transmitted through physical interaction. The situation in Fort Portal town is very tense and people are locking themselves in their houses.

http://www.redpepper.ug/spotlight.php?item=366

[and-justice-for-all]

17. What a nightmare...

could you imagine if that shit made it to Europe or even the States?

[Beerboy]

21. Mother Nature is fighting back.

Human overpopulation is periodically culled to more sustainable levels.

[and-justice-for-all]

23. Yup..

Mother Nature will, as she has down with past extinctions, put things back in check when they have gotten out of control.

[Mojorabbit]

18. Another update

http://allafrica.com/stories/200712090084.html
Suspected cases of the lethal Ebola haemorrhagic fever have been reported in seven more districts, the Ugandan government announced on Friday.

State minister for primary health care, Dr Emmanuel Otaala said eight cases had been registered in the districts of Adjumani in West Nile, Mbale in the east, Masaka and Mubende in Buganda region and Kasese, Fort Portal (Kabarole) and Kanungu in western Uganda
snip
But as Ebola threatens to engulf the whole country, acting government Spokesman Dr James Nsaba Buturo said the Cabinet threw out pleas by lawmakers on Thursday that a state of emergency be declared to draw international attention to the health crisis.

snip
But it emerged on Saturday that Mr Moses Natukunda, a guard with Delta Security suspected to be ill with Ebola, was on Thursday night rushed and admitted to Mulago Isolation Ward; the same unit where celebrated Kikyo Health centre IV Medical Superintendent Dr Jonah Kule died of the haemorrhagic fever four days ago.

"He (Natukunda) was brought in by his employers, Delta Security, after vomiting and passing out blood," Dr Ayati Omoruto, a community health officer at Mulago hospital, said


and
A number of epidemiological experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US-based Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the Treatment and Aids Research Centre (TRAC) of Rwanda have moved to Gatuna to strengthen the Rwandan medical practitioners working in tents erected near the Clearinghouse.

Minister Nyaruhirira visited the health workers at the busy customs post on Monday and instructed the nurses and medical officers to ensure effective surveillance on immigrants, especially Ugandans, to halt a possible spill over of the epidemic into Rwanda.

Gatuna border post, which operates from 6:00 am to 6pm happens to be the busiest post compared to the other entry points between Uganda and Rwanda and handles as many as 1, 600 people each day with the bulk - of 1, 000 - being Ugandans crossing over for business or visiting relatives, Mr James Mugisha, the head of Rwandan Immigration said.

The TRAC-Plus Director General, Dr Michael Kramer said they have also assembled other health teams on the Gisenyi and Cyanika border points. "A set of criteria to be followed has been issued on all border points," he said. Mr Kramer told Daily Monitor that people entering the country from Uganda must be examined thoroughly to establish their origin.

However, the informal Kivuye entry-exit point has not been covered yet it carries quite substantial human traffic, mainly to a nearby open market.
http://www.rwandagateway.org/article.php3?id_article=75...

[Mojorabbit]

19. Ebola death toll in Uganda rises to 29, 12 new cases recorded

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SSHN-79RJK...
KAMPALA, Dec 10, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Another seven people were killed by the deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Uganda as twelve new cases were reported over the weekend amid an outbreak that has sounded alarm in ten out of 79 districts across the country.

A total of 29 people have so far been killed by Ebola out of 113 infections as of Monday morning, Sam Okware, chairperson of the National Task Force for Ebola, told Xinhua by telephone on Monday.
He said seven new cases were reported in the western district of Bundibugyo which has been hit hard by the epidemic since August.

and over the weekend it got ugly

Ebola isolation centre closed over violence

In Kabarole, irate villagers, said to have been incited by the local leaders, attacked the Kichwamba isolation centre, smashing windows and doors.
Passions had been running high since the district decided to locate the centre at Kichwamba, with residents threatening to flee their village.

Some patients, who had been taken to the centre as they awaited the results of their tests, fled to Bundibugyo and Kabarole. Other patients were transferred to Buhinga Hospital, where an isolation centre has been created.
The commissioner for health services, Dr. Sam Okware, yesterday said the ministry had flown experts to Kichwamba to investigate the riot.
In a bid to appease the population, the ministry of health started sensitising the communities, using a mobile film van.

In Buhinga, too, the presence of suspected Ebola patients scared others. Medical workers said the out-patients’ department, which is usually packed, had only one patient on Thursday and only two on Friday.
The in-patients had fled several days earlier when people who showed signs associated with Ebola were admitted at the temporary isolation ward.

In another incident, two patients exhibiting signs of Ebola and their relatives turned violent at Virika Hospital when medical staff did not immediately find transport to transfer them to Buhinga hospital. The hospital had to give an askari protective gear so that he could restrain them.
Health workers in Kabarole reported a lot of fear among the public, which they said could hamper the fight against Ebola. They complained that relatives of suspected patients attacked medical staff, insisting that they must be allowed to handle their patients.

“You find about four people attending to one person, insisting on touching the patient with bare hands. They will spread this disease further,” Dr. Musa Walakira said.
Reports from Bundibugyo also said families of patients who died of Ebola, including the family of Dr. Jonah Kule, were being shunned by members of the community.

“Families of patients have experienced isolation. Neighbours are running away from them. Merchants refuse to accept the money they pay to buy food,” Dr. Myhre of World Mission Harvest said in a report.
more at link
http://www.newvision.co.ug/detail.php?newsCategoryId=12...

[Marrah_G]

20. That is some SCARY shit

The kind you can't think about to much or you freak yourself out.

Amazing what one microscopic organism can do against the human race.

[raccoon]

22. OMG, we're all gonna die! :silly: nt