Uganda confirms Ebola outbreak

July 28, 2012 05:25 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 12:31 am IST - KAMPALA

Ugandan health officials say the deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in western Uganda this month.

The officials and a World Health Organisation representative told a news conference in Kampala on Saturday that there is “an outbreak of Ebola” in Uganda.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, and in Uganda, where in 2000 the disease killed 224 people, it resurrects terrible memories.

Ebola, which manifests itself as a hemorrhagic fever, is highly infectious and kills quickly. It was first reported in 1976 in Congo and is named for the river where it was recognised, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Scientists don’t know the natural reservoir of the virus, but they suspect the first victim in an Ebola outbreak gets infected through contact with an infected animal.

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