Uganda confirms 3 new Ebola cases as WHO warns against underestimating outbreak risk

Uganda on Saturday confirmed three new Ebola cases, taking the total number of infections in the current outbreak in the country to five, as authorities intensified contact tracing efforts to contain the spread of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus.According to Uganda’s health ministry, the new cases include a driver who transported the country’s first confirmed Ebola patient and a health worker who was exposed while caring for that patient. Both were identified among known contacts and are currently receiving treatment, Reuters reported.The third confirmed case is a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo who entered Uganda with mild abdominal symptoms. Authorities said she travelled from Arua, near the border, to Entebbe before seeking treatment at a private hospital in Kampala.The ministry said the woman initially showed signs of recovery and returned to Congo, but later tested positive for Ebola following a follow-up investigation triggered by information from a pilot involved in transporting her.“All identified contacts linked to the confirmed cases are being closely monitored,” the ministry said, while urging the public to remain vigilant and report suspected symptoms.The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern and warned that the risk of a national epidemic in Congo remains “very high”.Nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded in Congo, Uganda’s neighbour, which remains the centre of the outbreak.The WHO has said delayed detection, the absence of a vaccine or virus-specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain, widespread armed violence and high mobility among the population have made Congo especially vulnerable.This comes after WHO Africa director Mohamed Yakub Janabi on Friday warned against underestimating the outbreak, saying that it would be a big mistake to do so. “It would be a big mistake to underestimate it, especially with a virus with this strain, Bundibugyo, for which we don’t have the vaccine”, he said.“So I would really encourage everyone, let’s help each other, we can bring this thing into control,” he added.Janabi also said the Ebola outbreak in Congo had received relatively limited international attention compared with this month’s hantavirus outbreak linked to cruise ship passengers from 23 countries.He further warned that even a single Ebola contact case could trigger wider transmission beyond Congo and Uganda, saying, “You just need one contact case to put all of us at risk.”