A 32-year-old male nurse in Uganda has died of Ebola, marking the first recorded fatality from the disease in the country since an outbreak was declared over in 2023, health officials confirmed.
The nurse, who worked at Mulago National Specialized Hospital in Kampala, succumbed to the Sudan strain of Ebola on Wednesday, according to Diana Atwine, permanent secretary of Uganda’s health ministry. Before his diagnosis, he had sought treatment at multiple hospitals and even consulted a traditional healer.
In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) has allocated $1 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support Uganda’s containment efforts. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on X that his organization was actively assisting the country in its response.
Ugandan health authorities have launched rapid response measures, including contact tracing. Atwine reassured the public via her X account, stating, “Rapid response teams are fully deployed, contact tracing is underway, and all necessary measures are in place to contain the situation. We assure the public that we are in full control.”
However, tracing contacts in Kampala, a city of over four million people, poses a significant challenge. So far, officials have identified 44 individuals who had contact with the nurse, including 30 healthcare workers.
Ebola, a highly contagious and often fatal disease, presents symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, and, in some cases, internal and external bleeding. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that healthcare workers and caregivers are at particularly high risk of infection.
The virus spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or contaminated materials, according to WHO. With a fatality rate averaging 50%, past outbreaks have seen mortality rates range from 25% to as high as 90%.
Ugandan authorities continue to monitor the situation closely as they work to prevent further spread of the virus.
