A nurse in Uganda died from Ebola virus, first outbreak since 2022
Kampala (Uganda), Jan 30 (AP): A nurse in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, has died of Ebola, a health official said on Thursday, in the first recorded fatality since the last outbreak ended in 2023.
Diana Atwine, permanent secretary of the health ministry, told reporters on Thursday that the 32-year-old male patient was an employee of Mulago Hospital, the main referral facility in Kampala.
After developing a fever, the patient was treated at several locations in Uganda before multiple lab tests confirmed he had been suffering from Ebola. The patient died on Wednesday, and Ebola was confirmed following postmortem tests, Atwine said.
Health authorities were “in full control of the situation”, she said.
Ebola, which is spread by contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials, manifests as a deadly hemorrhagic fever. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.
At least 44 contacts of the patient have been listed, including 30 health workers and patients at the hospital in Kampala, according to Uganda's Ministry of Health.
Scientists don't know the natural reservoir of Ebola, but they suspect the first person infected in an outbreak acquired the virus through contact with an infected animal or eating its raw meat. Ugandan officials are still investigating the source of the current outbreak.
Uganda has had multiple Ebola outbreaks, including one in 2000 that killed hundreds. The 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa killed more than 11,000 people, the disease's largest death toll.
Ebola was discovered in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in South Sudan and Congo, where it occurred in a village near the Ebola River, after which the disease is named.
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Over half a dozen passenger trains cancelled for three days due to elephant movements
Jamshedpur (PTI): Over half a dozen passenger trains will remain cancelled for three days from December 22 under the Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway due to the movement of elephants, a railway statement said on Sunday.
The Memu train services will remain cancelled between December 22 to 24, a South Eastern Railway statement said.
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Movement of a herd of elephants has been noticed near rail tracks between Chakradharpur (Jharkhand's Singhbhum)-Jharsuguda (Odisha) section of the division, especially Bandamuna during night, said Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Chakradharpur division of S E Railway, Aditya Choudhary.
The train services are being slowed down, causing traffic congestion and subsequently delaying train movements, he said.
The trains which will remain cancelled due to elephant movements in the section include 68025/68026(Ckp-Rou-Ckp), 68043/68044 (Tata-Rou-Tata), 18175/18176(Hte-Jsg-Hte), 68029/68030 (Rou-Jsg-Rou), 58151/58152 (Brmp-Bxf-Brmp) PASS, 68125/68126 (Tata-Bbn-Tata) MEMU, 68019/68020 (Tata-Gua-Tata) Memu, 68010/68009/68006 (Ckp-Tata-Kgp-Ckp) Memu, it added.
