Jan. 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of Uganda and the World Health Organization (WHO) have formally declared this Wednesday the end of the Ebola outbreak detected less than four months ago, which has left 164 cases and 55 fatalities, according to official data.
The outbreak broke out in the Mubende district, in the center of the country, and derives from the Ebola Sudan strain, an unprecedented event in the last decade and which ‘a priori’ complicated containment tasks, since they could not be used in this case the vaccines that have worked in other emergencies.
The last patient detected was discharged on November 30, so this January 11 marks the 42 days that experts set as the deadline to end the outbreak. The health authorities will still maintain surveillance measures, to respond quickly in the event of a new suspected case.
The Ugandan Minister of Health, Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, has applauded the “rapid” containment of the crisis, thanks to “key measures” such as “surveillance, contact tracing and the prevention and control of infections.” However, for the minister the most noteworthy role is that of the local communities, who “understood the importance of doing what was necessary.”
The director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has applauded the mobilization of authorities and communities in Uganda to achieve “today’s victory against Ebola.” “Uganda has shown that Ebola can be defeated when the whole system works together,” he added in a statement.
In this sense, the person in charge of the organization for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, has warned that this outbreak seemed at first “one of the most complicated” in the last five years, due to the lack of specific vaccines and therapeutic treatment, but it has finished by giving the continent a reason for “great hope” at the beginning of 2023.
In fact, the rapid international mobilization made it possible to identify three potential vaccines, of which more than 5,000 doses arrived in Uganda. Although they were not used in this outbreak, the agility of the mobilization demonstrated the importance of collaboration between different actors, according to the WHO.
