The Ministry of Health Uganda revealed the man presented with a five-day history of “high fever, chest pain, and difficulty in breathing”, before progressing to “unexplained bleeding”
A horror Ebola outbreak has been confirmed by health officials after a 32-year-old man died from “unexplained bleeding from multiple sources.”
The Ministry of Health Uganda revealed the man presented with a five-day history of “high fever, chest pain, and difficulty in breathing”, before progressing to “unexplained bleeding.”
Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health Uganda Dr Diana Atwine said in a news briefing this afternoon an outbreak of Ebola has been confirmed in Kampala: “An outbreak of Sudan Ebola Virus Disease has been confirmed in Kampala, Uganda following confirmation from 3 National Reference Laboratories.
“The confirmed case, designated as the index case, is a 32-year-old male nurse, an employee of Mulago National Referral Hospital who initially developed fever-like symptoms and sought treatment at multiple health facilities, including Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Saidina Abubakar Islamic Hospital in Matugga in Wakiso District, and MbaleRegional Referral Hospital in Mbale City, as well as from a traditional healer.
“The patient presented with a five-day history of high fever, chest pain, and difficulty in breathing, which later progressed to unexplained bleeding from multiple body sites. The patient experienced multi-organ failure and succumbed to the illness at Mulago National Referral Hospital on 29th January 2025. Post-mortem samples confirmed Sudan Ebola Virus Disease. Currently, no other health care worker or patient on the ward has presented with signs or symptoms of Ebola.”
Health officials has dispatched Rapid Response Teams to both Mbale City and Saidina Abubakar Islamic Hospital in Matugga. 44 contacts have also been listed including 30 health workers and patients from Mulago, 11 family members of the nurse, and four health workers from the hospital in Matugga. A safe and private burial will be set up to help prevent the spread of the disease. Vaccination of all contacts of the deceased is to commence immediately especially contacts of the deceased man, it added.
It comes just a day after fears were raised of an Ebola outbreak as rebels fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo could release samples of the deadly virus from a local laboratory.
Rwanda-backed rebels captured large parts of Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo, including its airport, today and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned of “unimaginable consequences” if samples of Ebola, and other viruses, are leaked. Patrick Youssef, humanitarian organisation’s regional director of the Red Cross, admitted they are “very concerned about the situation in the laboratory of the national biomedical research institute, which is facing a risk of power cuts, as well as a question of preserving the samples that may be affected by the clashes.”
