A 32-year-old nurse at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, has died from Sudan Ebola Virus Disease, the country’s health ministry confirmed on Thursday, January 30. The ministry described the nurse as the first confirmed case of an outbreak declared in the capital city.
The health ministry’s permanent secretary, Diana Atwine, announced that the outbreak was confirmed following tests conducted by three national reference laboratories. The nurse initially exhibited fever-like symptoms before experiencing multi-organ failure and succumbing to the disease on Wednesday.
In a statement, the ministry said no other healthcare workers or patients in the same ward had shown signs or symptoms of Ebola. However, rapid response teams have been mobilized, and 44 contacts of the deceased have been identified for monitoring and vaccination.
Sudan Ebola Virus is one of six known species of the Ebola virus. Unlike other strains, there is currently no confirmed vaccine for Sudan Ebola, though three candidate vaccines were developed and trialed during Uganda’s 2022 outbreak.
Uganda shares a porous border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Ebola was first discovered in 1976. The DRC has experienced more than a dozen outbreaks, the deadliest claiming 2,280 lives in 2020. Uganda’s most recent outbreak, in 2022, lasted four months and claimed 55 lives before it was brought under control through measures such as surveillance, contact tracing, and infection prevention.
Outbreaks of Ebola are notoriously challenging to contain, especially in urban areas. The virus is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, and symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding. Infected individuals become contagious only after symptoms appear, which can occur between two to 21 days after exposure.
The deadliest Ebola epidemic occurred in West Africa between 2013 and 2016, resulting in more than 11,300 deaths. Health authorities in Uganda are now working to prevent further spread in Kampala as they monitor contacts of the deceased and implement control measures.
