Uganda’s health ministry announced on Monday that two more people have tested positive for Ebola, pushing the country’s confirmed case count to seven since the current outbreak began.
The ministry said the two newly confirmed Ebola cases involve health workers at a private clinic in Kampala, who have since been moved to a designated treatment facility for treatment.
“Both patients have been admitted to the designated treatment unit and are now receiving care,” the ministry said, adding that response teams were tracing everyone who had been in contact with the two individuals.
Three cases were confirmed on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases at the time to five. The latest infections have raised fresh concerns about possible transmission within health facilities.
The outbreak is centred in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Ituri Province, which borders Uganda, where the virus first spread into the country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the Bundibugyo strain driving the epidemic as a public health emergency of international concern. It has also raised its risk assessment to “very high” and warned that 10 neighbouring countries now face increased exposure as the outbreak continues to spread.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that suspected cases linked to the outbreak had surpassed 900, with 101 laboratory-confirmed cases.
