Church issues guidelines to contain Ebola panic in Uganda

Social justice news
December 10, 2007

Church issues guidelines to contain Ebola panic in Uganda
December 7, 2007, (CISA ) - The Catholic Church in Uganda has issued several health guidelines after the death toll from an outbreak of Ebola in the East African country rose to 24, among them eight health workers.

Fort Portal Catholic Diocese, where a 13-year-old boy died from suspected Ebola on Sunday, warned people to stop self-medication and seek help from the nearest health units as soon as they suspect they may have contracted the disease.

Health coordinator, Sr. Euphrasia Masika, warned that concealing the disease minimized their chances of getting cured.

Her warning came in the wake of reports that a medical doctor and four health workers, who treated the first Ebola patients in Bundibugyo, have died of the disease.

Dr. Jonah Kule, the medical superintendent of Kikyo Health Centre, succumbed on Tuesday night. He had been quarantined at Mulago Hospital.

Senior Clinical Officer Joshua Kule, Senior Nursing Officer Rose Bulimpikya, Matron Peluce Tabiita and another nurse not yet identified died yesterday in Bundibugyo Hospital, according to senior Clinical Officer James Agaba.

Meanwhile, health ministry sources said yesterday that experts from the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Ministry of Health were assembling the Ebola-testing machine at the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe.

The machine will make testing for Ebola and other haemorrhagic viruses faster and intervention quicker. Currently, samples have to be sent to laboratories in South Africa and the US, causing delays.

The authorities at Buhinga Regional Hospital in Kabarole district said some patients had fled, fearing to contract Ebola. One of the patients who fled was a woman who had been put in isolation at the hospital after she vomited blood.

In Mbarara town, the death of woman at Mbarara University Hospital has forced residents to stop their traditional culture of greeting with a hug and a handshake, fearing the deadly disease. They have resorted to waving at each other.

The management of all banks in the town have instructed their staff to wear protective gloves before handling money from clients.

Back to page top