April 28, 2025
1 min learn
Key takeaways:
- Throughout the outbreak, 12 confirmed circumstances and 4 deaths had been reported.
- Officers launched the primary trial to evaluate the medical efficacy of a vaccine in opposition to Sudan ebolavirus in response to the outbreak.
Uganda has declared an finish to the Ebola outbreak that started earlier this 12 months in Kampala, the nation’s capital metropolis.
The outbreak, which was formally declared over on April 26, resulted in 12 confirmed and two possible circumstances, officers stated. 4 deaths had been additionally reported, two of which had been confirmed via laboratory testing.
Knowledge derived from WHO.
Ugandan well being officers declared the on Jan. 30 in Kampala, after a person aged 32 years died. Based on WHO, the person, who was a nurse at Mulago Nationwide Referral Hospital, sought care from not less than three services after creating signs. His signs progressed into “unexplained bleeding from a number of physique websites,” and he skilled multiorgan failure earlier than dying on Jan. 29, the Uganda Ministry of Well being reported.
This prompted the declaration of the outbreak and the beginning of contact tracing, which resulted in a complete of 534 individuals who had been carefully monitored after being recognized as contacts.
Postmortem samples collected from the primary affected person confirmed that the person died from an an infection with Sudan ebolavirus. Whereas there are not any licensed vaccines for Sudan ebolavirus, a randomized medical trial of the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus candidate was launched inside 4 days of the outbreak’s declaration. This marked the primary trial to evaluate the medical efficacy of a vaccine in opposition to Sudan ebolavirus.
Based on WHO, this was Uganda’s second Ebola outbreak in lower than 3 years. The nation’s final Ebola outbreak was additionally attributable to Sudan ebolavirus and marked the primary outbreak of the species in Uganda in over a decade. Throughout the outbreak, officers developed a randomized protocol for candidate vaccines. WHO stated this contributed to the short launch of the trial throughout the 2025 outbreak.
“This outbreak challenged us in new methods. It touched each city and rural communities throughout the nation and unfolded in opposition to the backdrop of serious world funding constraints,” Chikwe Ihekweazu, MPH, performing WHO regional director for Africa, stated in a press launch. “The response demonstrated Uganda’s long-standing management in tackling public well being emergencies.”
