The World Health Organization ( WHO) has allocated US$ 1 million (200 billion) from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to help quickly tackle the Sudan Ebola Virus Disease outbreak confirmed in Uganda on Thursday.
In their latest statement, WHO says they are readying medical supplies, including personal protective equipment to deliver to Uganda from its Emergency Response Hub in Nairobi.
While there are no licensed vaccines for the Sudan virus disease, the organisation noted that they will coordinate with developers to deploy candidate vaccines in addition to the other public health measures. The vaccines will be deployed once all administrative and regulatory approvals are obtained.
So far one confirmed case of a nurse from Mulago National Referral Hospital in the capital Kampala has been reported. No other health workers or patients have shown symptoms of the disease.
A total of 45 contacts, including health workers and family members of the confirmed case who has since succumbed have been identified and are currently under close monitoring, according to Dr Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health.
On their part, experts at the WHO say that an outbreak of such a deadly disease in a densely populated and urbanized area requires intense efforts to counter. They called for swift intervention and scaling up of control measures.
“We welcome the prompt declaration of this outbreak, and as a comprehensive response is being established, we are supporting the government and partners to scale up measures to quickly identify cases, isolate and provide care, curb the spread of the virus and protect the population,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Uganda’s robust expertise in responding to public health emergencies will be crucial in ending this outbreak effectively.”
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There have been eight previous outbreaks of the Sudan virus disease, with five occurring in Uganda and three in Sudan. Uganda last reported an outbreak of Sudan virus disease in 2022.