Uganda confirms another Ebola case in Kasese

Health workers are seen inside the 'red zone' of an Ebola treatment centre in Butembo, DR Congo on March 9, 2019. FILE PHOTO | JOHN WESSELS | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Nine-year-old girl from Congo tests positive for the deadly virus.

Uganda has confirmed an Ebola case after nine-year-old girl tested positive on Thursday.

The Ministry of Health said the patient was identified during screening as she tried to cross the border on Wednesday.

“The child and her mother entered the country through Mpondwe main border post to seek medical care in Bwera, Kasese District,” reads the statement by the ministry.

“The child was identified at the point of entry by the screening team with the following symptoms; high fever, body weakness, rash and unexplained mouth bleeding. She was subsequently isolated and taken to Bwera Hospital Ebola Treatment Unit where she is currently being managed,” the statement adds.

Her blood sample tested positive for the Ebola virus at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI).

“Since the child was identified at the point of entry, there are no contacts in Uganda,” Dr Joyce Moriku, the State Minister for Health in charge of Primary Health Care, said in the statement.

The case is the second outbreak to be reported in Uganda after the first in June which claimed two people who had travelled from Congo.

The haemorrhagic disease has killed at least 1,800 in a year-long outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.