The Ministry of Health has this morning confirmed the outbreak of Yellow Fever in Moyo District in West Nile region and Buliisa District in Hoima region.
according to the Health Minister Jane Ruth Acheng, In Moyo
District, there are two confirmed cases, both are males aged 18 and 21 years.
The two cases were dealing with cutting and trading timber between Uganda and
South Sudan. On 2 January 2020, the two cases travelled from South Sudan to
Moyo.
“Upon arrival, they got ill and on 3 January 2020, they were
admitted at Logobo Health Center I l l in Moyo District. They were later
referred to Moyo General Hospital with symptoms of fever, vomiting, diarrhoea,
fatigue, headache, abdominal and joint pain, confusion and unexplained bleeding.”
Acheng noted adding that unfortunately,
they later died in the isolation ward of Moyo General Hospital.
She says that blood samples were withdrawn and sent for testing at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). Results from UVRI confirmed Yellow Fever infection.
In Buliisa, there are also two confirmed cases. A 37-year old
male and his 38-year old wife. The husband was a cattle farmer trading in milk
between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“On 31 October 2019, he visited Buliisa Hospital with a headache, vomiting, and abdominal pain and received supportive treatment. He died on 4 November 2019 at Buliisa Hospital. At this time, there was little suspicion, however, his blood sample was withdrawn and sent to UVRI for testing. On 10 December 2019, the sample tested positive for Yellow fever virus. This prompted our teams to follow up with investigations, samples were collected from seven of his contacts, including his wife. On 22 January 2020, the wife tested positive for Yellow Fever virus. The other 6 samples tested negative. She is alive and well.” She noted.
Ministry of Health has also applied to GAVI and WHO for
inclusion of the Yellow Fever vaccination into the routine immunisation
schedule. Having faced 4 outbreaks, Uganda now qualifies to introduce the
Yellow Fever vaccine as a long term measure to prevent Yellow Fever outbreaks.
Yellow fever is a disease transmitted through bites of
mosquitoes infected by the Yellow Fever virus (flavivirus). Symptoms include
high fever, headache, general body aches, fatigue, vomiting, blood in urine or
stool and or yellow discolouration of skin and or eyes.
The Ministry of Health appeals to the general public to
observe the following; All
travellers in and out of the country MUST be vaccinated against Yellow Fever.
Travellers are urged to comply with this travel requirement to ensure that the
risk of spread of yellow fever through international travel is minimized.
The population are advised to always sleep under a mosquito
net. Report any suspected cases to the nearest health facility.
In conclusion, The Ministry of Health re-echoes its call to
the public to cooperate with officials during the investigation and response to
the outbreaks. The Ministry would also like to re-assure Ugandans and all other
residents that with the experience and expertise available in the country, the
disease will be contained.
“We appeal to the public to remain calm and vigilant and
report any suspected cases to the nearest health facility or call our toll-free
number 0800-203-033” Acheng said.
