Crisis
"The sad news is that our doctor and a senior clinical officer who were in critical condition have died at Mulago hospital in Kampala," Samuel Kazinga, the Bundibugyo district commissioner said. Bundibugyo district is the most affected region - so far 36 people are still in local health centres."We are facing a crisis, health workers are scared and the morale is low, there is a very big shortage of nurses," Bundibugyo MP Jane Alisemera, told the Associated Press news agency. Media reports say the doctors contracted the virus due to a lack of safety equipment.Some health workers have threatened to go on strike unless they are paid risk allowances and provided with adequate protective gear.
Cholera
Ugandan health officials originally suspected that the Marburg virus was responsible for the deaths, before it was confirmed as Ebola.The virus is thought to be transmitted through the consumption of infected bush meat and can also be spread by contact with the blood secretions of infected people.Some 174 people have died in DR Congo of a virus this year but only 13 of these have been confirmed as having Ebola.Uganda's health ministry has also deployed medics to the north-west to control outbreaks of cholera, meningitis and bubonic plague.Health Minister Emmanuel Otaala said they were battling with plague and meningitis in West Nile and Arua districts, while cholera had broken out in the northern Nebbi district.Aid agencies, which include World Vision and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), have set up makeshift health centres to ease the pressure on government health facilities.
As in the days of Noah...