Kampala, July 16 (IANS). Uganda on Thursday discharged its last Ebola patient from hospital after reports did not confirm the virus. With this, a monitoring period of 42 days has started in the country. If no new cases of Ebola are reported during this period, the outbreak will be officially declared over.
Uganda’s Health Minister, Chris Baryomunsi, presided over the symbolic discharge ceremony at Mulago National Referral Hospital in the capital, Kampala, Xinhua news agency reported.
During this, the minister gave the patient a certificate of discharge from Ebola, in which it was written that his report has come negative and now there is no danger of him spreading the virus. The minister said that now his health condition is not such that there is any danger. So they can go back to their homes and work and resume their normal lives as before.
He further said, “We appeal to the people and the concerned authorities to welcome them, so that they can easily become a part of the society again.”
Kasonde Mawinga, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Uganda, said the country was already well prepared, so the Ebola outbreak could be kept under control. He said that the teams dealing with Ebola remained fully alert the entire time.
Mavinga said that due to good preparations, the mortality rate in this outbreak remained below ten percent, one of the lowest rates ever recorded in Ebola outbreaks.
According to the World Health Organization, if no new cases of Ebola are reported for 42 consecutive days after the last confirmed patient is no longer able to spread the virus, the outbreak can be officially declared over in that country. The patient no longer being able to spread the virus means that he has either completely recovered and been discharged from the hospital with a negative report or he has died. If no new infections are found in these 42 days, the outbreak is considered over.
Uganda confirmed the Ebola outbreak on 15 May. At that time, the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus was confirmed in the investigation of a traveler coming from the neighboring country Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Currently, the outbreak of this strain is highest in DRC.
A total of 20 confirmed cases of Ebola have been reported in Uganda since then. These include 15 Congolese citizens and five Ugandan citizens. Two of these patients have died.
–IANS
AY/DKP