KAMPALA, Jan. 17 ’25 (Xinhua/TNZ): Following a suspected Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreak that killed eight people, Uganda has intensified border surveillance with neighbouring Tanzania, a senior government official said on Friday.
Ugandan Minister of Health, Jane Ruth Aceng, told reporters that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had alerted Uganda about the suspected outbreak in Tanzania’s Kagera region.
Kagera region shares a border with Uganda.
Aceng said health authorities have identified Uganda’s border districts as being at immediate high risk of disease importation. The districts are Kyotera, Isingiro, Rakai, Kalangala and Ntungamo.
According to the ministry, no confirmed or suspected cases of MVD have been reported in Uganda.
Symptoms of MDV include headache, high fever, back pain, diarrhoea, vomiting with blood, body weakness and external bleeding.
“Besides cross-border movements through the designated entry points, there is rapid movement in non-designated entry points,” Aceng said.
“We have heightened points of entry surveillance, active case search, and public health communication in the high-risk border districts,” it stated.
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The WHO has classified the regional risk as high.
It cited Kagera’s strategic role as a transit hub with extensive cross-border movement involving Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo.
“We advise the population to remain calm, especially in the high-risk districts,” said Aceng.
“They should remain vigilant and report any individual with the signs and symptoms consistent with Marburg and suspicious deaths to the nearest health facility.
The ministry will monitor the situation and provide timely updates.”
MVD is a highly virulent disease-causing hemorrhagic fever. It has a fatality rate of up to 88 per cent, according to the WHO.
The zoonotic virus is transmitted to humans through direct contact with the body fluids of infected individuals or contaminated materials such as blood, tissues, or surfaces. (Xinhua)
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