Ebola: Two health workers test positive as Uganda’s cases rise to seven

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Uganda has confirmed two new Ebola Virus Disease infections involving health workers in Kampala, raising the country’s total number of confirmed cases to seven as the ministry of health intensifies surveillance and contact tracing operations.

The Ministry of Health said the two newly infected patients are Ugandan health workers attached to a private health facility in Kampala and are currently receiving treatment at a designated Ebola isolation and treatment unit.

In a statement issued on Monday, May 25, Prof. Charles Olaro, the Director General of Health Services, said both patients were identified through ongoing surveillance efforts and that response teams had already started tracing all individuals who may have come into contact with them.

“The two new confirmed cases are Ugandan health workers working in a private health facility in Kampala. Both patients have been admitted to the designated treatment unit and are now receiving care. All contacts linked to the confirmed cases are being listed for follow-up by response teams,” said Olaro.

The latest infections come just days after Uganda confirmed three other Ebola cases on May 23, including a driver and another health worker linked to the country’s first Ebola patient, alongside a Congolese woman who had travelled between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The ministry of health has not yet disclosed how the newly infected Kampala health workers were exposed to the virus, but investigations are ongoing as authorities work to prevent further transmission within health facilities and surrounding communities.

The new cases are likely to raise fresh concern over the vulnerability of frontline medical workers who remain among the most exposed groups during Ebola outbreaks because of direct contact with infected patients.

Uganda has already activated emergency response systems, intensified surveillance at border points and expanded screening operations in health facilities following the recent Ebola cases linked to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC).

The latest infections come amid growing regional concern over the worsening Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC, where more than 200 deaths and hundreds of suspected infections have already been reported.

Protective gear shortage

The worsening Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC has also exposed dangerous conditions facing frontline health workers, with medics reporting severe shortages of protective gear and emergency medical supplies as the epidemic spreads.

Health workers responding to the outbreak in Ituri province, the epicentre of the epidemic, said they are treating suspected Ebola patients without adequate personal protective equipment despite the high risk of infection associated with the virus.

“The situation on the ground is truly alarming,” said Ruben Dedja, the chief medical officer of the Mongbwalu health zone in Ituri province, warning that local health teams were struggling to contain the outbreak with limited resources.

“As yet, we do not have the rapid intervention kits at the health zone level. We’ve been told they are on their way,” Dedja said, adding that the lack of supplies meant there was “no way to limit the spread” effectively.

Dedja said many health workers feared for their lives as they continued responding to patients infected with the rare Ebola Bundibugyo strain, for which there are currently no licensed vaccines or approved treatments.

Despite the fears, Dedja said health workers had continued treating patients using whatever resources were available because communities affected by the outbreak still depended heavily on local medical teams for survival.