Uganda’s Ministry of Health has ramped up surveillance and implemented precautionary measures at its border with Tanzania to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Henry Kyobe Bosa, the incident commander at the Ministry of Health, confirmed in a phone interview with Xinhua that no cases of MVD have been reported within Uganda at this time.
“We are closely monitoring the situation, in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) risk assessment, to ensure early detection and response. We are also prepared to conduct active case searches if necessary,” Bosa said.
The WHO alerted its member states on Monday about suspected MVD cases in Tanzania’s Kagera Region. Symptoms include severe headache, high fever, back pain, diarrhea, vomiting with blood, body weakness, and external bleeding.
The Kagera Region, which serves as a key transit hub, poses a significant risk due to heavy cross-border movement between Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The WHO has assessed the regional risk as high, given the potential for the virus to spread through these interconnected borders.
In March 2023, Tanzania reported an earlier outbreak of MVD in the Kagera Region, which claimed five lives. That outbreak was reportedly contained by health authorities.
Marburg virus disease is a zoonotic disease caused by the Marburg virus, which leads to hemorrhagic fever with a high fatality rate of up to 88 percent, according to the WHO. Human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with infected body fluids, contaminated medical equipment, or surfaces.
Uganda’s health authorities are actively monitoring the situation to mitigate the risk of MVD entering the country, emphasizing the need for vigilance in the face of the ongoing outbreak in Tanzania.
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