Uganda confirms three more Ebola cases linked to Congo outbreak

Uganda has confirmed three more Ebola infections linked to the major outbreak in Congo, including two people who had contact with the country’s first known case last week, the Ugandan Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The two cases involved a driver and a nurse who had been in contact with the initial patient, according to the ministry.

The third confirmed case was a Congolese woman who travelled by plane to the Ugandan capital Kampala.

After falling ill, she was treated for abdominal complaints at a private hospital in Kampala before returning to Congo, the ministry said. Authorities later tested a sample for Ebola after the pilot alerted them to the case, it added.

Uganda has now recorded five confirmed Ebola cases. The country does not publish figures for suspected infections.

The ministry said contact tracing and monitoring measures were continuing. It urged the public to "remain calm, vigilant and continue observing all recommended preventive measures."

The World Health Organization said there are nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths in Congo linked to the outbreak that was detected earlier this month.

Laboratory tests have officially confirmed 82 Ebola infections, including seven deaths.

The WHO believes the true number of cases is significantly higher because the outbreak went undetected for weeks and not all infections are being reported.

The agency declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern nearly a week ago. On Friday, it warned that infections in Congo are escalating "rapidly" and now pose a “very high” risk to the entire Central African country.

Ebola is a highly contagious and often fatal infectious disease spread through physical contact and contact with bodily fluids.

The outbreak began in Congo’s north-eastern Ituri province, a remote area with poor road networks bordering Uganda and South Sudan. It is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in Congo since 1976.

The spread of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is neither a vaccine nor a treatment, has made the outbreak more difficult to contain.