Ebola outbreak contained in Uganda

March 10, 2008

In November 2007, the Ministry of Health in Uganda confirmed an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the western district of Bundibugyo. Initial field investigations indicated that the outbreak might have started in September 2007.

Dr Sam Zaramba (left), Director General of the Ministry of Health, and Dr Georges Melville, WHO Representative in Uganda, prepare to visit patients in the Ebola isolation ward at the Bundibugyo hospital. They expressed empathy with the patients and their families.

A national task force comprising the health ministry, WHO and other international partners coordinated the response to this outbreak. After the monitoring and patient care activities that lasted several weeks, the Ugandan health ministry this week announced the containment of the Ebola outbreak in Bundibugyo. In all, 149 cases were detected and 37 patients died.

The international response involved experts from a number of organizations: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF - Suisse), the African Field Epidemiology Network, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF and the World Food Programme. Coordination support was provided by WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.