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Ebola death toll: - 51, experts identify more cases

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October 22, 2000 

KAMPALA (P) - The death toll from the outbreak of Ebola in northern Uganda has risen to 51, officials said Saturday as health workers continued to search for anyone who may have come into contact with the deadly virus.

The highly contagious virus, a type of hemorrhagic fever for which there is no known cure, has affected as many as 88 others, said Dr. Sam Zaramba of Uganda's national health service.

Health workers said they hope to end the Ebola epidemic within a month.

"The epidemic has not been controlled at this stage, but we hope that in the next week it should have reached a peak and hopefully stabilize with a few cases," Zaramba told reporters in Kampala.

The number of identified cases was expected to rise, he said, as health teams spread out through villages in the area around Gulu, 362 kilometers (225 miles) north of Kampala.

"Epidemiologists should expect increases in cases to continue because of the vigilance of volunteers who are going into villages looking for those who have had close contact with people who are infected."

Experts from the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Doctors without Borders are in Gulu helping the Ugandan authorities attempt to contain the disease.

On Friday, WHO launched an appeal for dlrs 848,000 to help the government, while the U.N. World Food Program is delivering food to hospitals treating victims.

Traditionally, relatives help care for patients and feed them, but the possibility of the diseases spreading in this way is too great to permit the practice.

The outbreak of Ebola, which is spread through contact with bodily fluids, was officially confirmed on Oct. 14.

When the first victims died in Gulu, they were given traditional burial rites, including the washing the body of the deceased and then washing hands in a communal basin as a sign of unity. That turned many of the mourners into subsequent victims.

Zaramba said two burial sites have been set up close to Gulu's two hospitals so victims can be buried immediately to prevent any further contamination.

Ebola can take up to two weeks to incubate in a new victim, and during this period the patient is not contagious. But once the first flu-like symptoms develop, the patient can transmit the virus through contact with bodily fluids, such as mucus, saliva and blood.

In later stages, the victim begins bleeding internally, vomiting blood and producing bloody diarrhea and eventually bleeding from all orifices. At this point, and for a short time after death, the patient is most contagious.

Ebola Sudan, one of three viral strains that can infect humans, has been identified as responsible for the outbreak in the Gulu area.

The strain was last detected near the Ebola River in Sudan in 1979, creating suspicions that it may have been inadvertently brought to the district by Ugandan rebels, who have bases in southern Sudan.

For 13 years, Lord's Resistance Army rebels have been staging raids in northern Uganda, particularly around Gulu, home to a large military base, to show the people of the region that the government can't protect them and to capture youngsters for use as soldiers, bearers and sex slaves.