Kampala 13 June 2019- The Ministry of Health would like to update the public that Uganda has so far registered three (3) confirmed cases of Ebola. Two of these have since passed on. The most recent being the 50-year-old grandmother of the deceased index Ebola case who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the 10th June 2019 and tested positive for Ebola but died last evening at 4:00pm. She will be accorded a safe burial at a public cemetery today in Kasese District.
Teams from the Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) Uganda and Center for Disease Control (CDC) led by Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng travelled to Bwera yesterday, 12th June 2019 and joined the District Task Force chaired by the Resident District Commissioner of Kasese District. In this meeting, a situation report was discussed and further strategies laid down on how to improve screening at border points of entry including the non-official entry points. Financial support to the district was also discussed and the meeting resolved that the district should immediately prepare a work plan including a budget and submit to the Ministry of Health for urgent consideration. Several partners who attended the meeting reaffirmed their commitment to support the district.
At about 3:00PM, teams from Ministry of Health DRC led by Dr. Tshapenda Gaston joined the meeting. They came into Uganda at the invitation of the Ugandan Minister of Health. The purpose of their invitation was to harmonize ideas on how to further strengthen screening at the border points, prompt sharing of information and conclude the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with DRC that also includes cross border movements of patients. It was resolved that all the unofficial points of entry would be manned on both Ugandan and DRC sides and information on any unusual event shared immediately. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding will be undertaken within two weeks.
During the meeting, the teams from DRC requested for the possibility of Uganda accepting the repatriation of the Congolese who were confirmed Ebola cases and were being managed at the Bwera ETU. The DRC team proposed to repatriate six (6) Ebola patients back to DRC to enable them access medicines for therapeutic treatment which are available in the DRC as well as receive family support and comfort since they had 6 other relatives who had remained behind in DRC and 5 of whom had also been confirmed positive for Ebola.