Ebola Outbreak

[Atheist-Lite]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ju ... sfeed=true

Uganda Ebola outbreak: patients flee hospital amid contagion fears

Terrified patients fled from a hospital in western Uganda as soon as news broke that a mysterious illness that killed at least 14 people in the region was Ebola, one of the world's most virulent diseases.

Ignatius Besisira, an MP for Buyaga East County in the Kibaale district, said people had at first believed the unexplained deaths were related to witchcraft. "Immediately, when there was confirmation that it was Ebola … patients ran out of Kagadi hospital (where some of the victims had died)," he told the Guardian. "Even the medical officers are very, very frightened," he said.

Government officials and a World Health Organisation representative confirmed the Ebola outbreak at a news conference in Kampala on Saturday. "Laboratory investigations done at the Uganda Virus Research Institute ... have confirmed that the strange disease reported in Kibaale is indeed Ebola haemorrhagic fever," they said in a joint statement.

Health officials said at least 20 people had been infected and of those 14 had died.

There is no treatment or vaccine against Ebola, which is transmitted by close personal contact and, depending on the strain, can kill up to 90% of those who contract the virus.

It has a devastating history in Uganda, where in 2000, at least 425 people were infected, of whom more than half died. Ebola was previously reported in the country in May last year, when it killed a 12-year-old girl.

During an outbreak in 2007, which claimed at least 37 lives, President Yoweri Museveni advised people not to shake hands and public gatherings were also discouraged.

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[redunderthebed]

I was listening to ABC newsradio this came on and then a documentary about rape in the congo.

Lovely subjects isn't it however this is major if it finds a way to spread itself in a way that say flu's colds and HIV/AIDS have.

[Atheist-Lite]

I was listening to ABC newsradio this came on and then a documentary about rape in the congo.

Lovely subjects isn't it however this is major if it finds a way to spread itself in a way that say flu's colds and HIV/AIDS have.

Crumple is busy?

[Atheist-Lite]

Ebola reaches capital seeks airplane to anywhere near you?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19048998

Uganda's Yoweri Museveni warns of Ebola threat

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has urged people to avoid physical contact, after the deadly Ebola virus claimed one life in the capital, Kampala.

Fourteen people have now died since the outbreak began in western Uganda three weeks ago, he said in a broadcast.

There have been no confirmed cases of the infection spreading in Kampala.

Ebola, one of the most virulent diseases in the world, is spread by close personal contact and can kill up to 90% of those who become infected.

Mr Museveni said health officials were trying to trace everyone who had had contact with victims so that they could be quarantined.

People should avoid shaking hands, kissing or having sex to prevent the disease from spreading, he added.

Mr Museveni said relatives and friends should not bury anyone who is suspected to have died of Ebola.

"Instead call health workers because they know how to do it," he said.

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