Uganda has confirmed nine cases of the deadly disease Ebola, the health ministry said Tuesday, raising the count in its latest outbreak from three.
It is the sixth time the East African nation has been hit by the Ebola Sudan species of the virus, for which there is no approved vaccine.
A vaccination trial for the strain was launched earlier this month in Uganda.
The outbreak was confirmed in late January following the death of a nurse in the capital Kampala.
“We have confirmed nine cases of Ebola from the initial three cases,” health ministry official Diana Atwine told AFP.
“All the confirmed cases are linked to the medical nurse who succumbed to the disease,” she added.
A total of 265 contacts have been placed under isolation in hospitals across Kampala and the eastern city of Mbale.
Atwine said the disease was “under control” but advised the Ugandan public to “remain vigilant until the spread is contained”.
AFP
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