Another health worker in Uganda has succumbed to the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) as the country struggles to contain the spread of the virus, the Health Ministry has reported.

Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng on Wednesday announced the death of Ms Margaret Nabisubi, an anaesthetic officer.

“The 58-year-old succumbed to Ebola at 4.33am this morning at Fort Portal Hospital (JMedic) after battling the disease for 17 days,” Dr Aceng said in a tweet.

“The late Margaret is the 4th health worker we have lost in the current Ebola outbreak after the probable case of the midwife, Dr Mohammed Ali and the health assistant in Kagadi District. May their souls rest in eternal peace.”

The death of health workers comes a week after President Yoweri Museveni said the disease is easy to contain.

Since the outbreak was announced last month, the confirmed cases have increased to 43 and the deaths have also increased to 9 as of Tuesday.

The case-fatality rate for the disease ranges from 25 percent to 90 percent, according to the World Health Organization. This is higher than that of Covid-19, whose case-fatality rate is at around 3 percent.

According to the Health Ministry, EVD is transmitted through contact with the blood, stool or fluids of an infected person and objects that have been contaminated with body fluids from an infected person.

One can also contract the disease from infected animals such as fruit bats and other wild animals.

The known symptoms of Ebola include fever, fatigue, chest pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, yellowing of the eyes and unexplained bleeding.

Bleeding is usually a late presentation after the above symptoms, according to the Health Ministry.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/ebola-health-worke...