Uganda: UN says no new Ebola cases reported in 17 days 

The United Nations said on Friday that the Ugandan government reported no new suspected Ebola cases in the country over the past 17 days.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, in an update, told journalists at the UN headquarters in New York, attributing the success to the collaborative efforts of the Ugandan national authorities, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN country team.

“As we have mentioned, the response to the Ebola outbreak has been led by the national authorities in Uganda, with technical leadership from the World Health Organisation and support from the UN country team.

“Emphasis has been placed on strengthened contact tracing, expanded lab capacity, supported treatment and infection control, enhanced risk communication and community engagement, and reinforced screening at borders.

“To sustain these gains, our UN team and partners are supporting the authorities in maintaining and updating the national response plan for the next six months to ensure Uganda remains ready to detect and respond rapidly to any resurgence,’’ he said.

On the other hand, the Congolese government has reported new suspected cases of Ebola as the death toll in the country has reached 600.

The latest report published stated that two new cases were suspected in Kisangani in the Tshopo province, where cases had not been previously recorded.

“The total number of confirmed cases across the country has now reached 1,759,” the report said.

According to the report, one of the two suspected cases was linked to the Nia-Nia health zone in Ituri province, where the first cases were reported.

The other case “has no apparent geographical connection to known outbreaks”.

Mr Dujarric further told journalists that the emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has emphasised the need to move faster to break the back of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee has activated a system-wide scale-up to control the disease in the DRC.

As you know, we have also deployed a Senior Ebola Coordinator, Julien Harnei, to strengthen the leadership.

Mr Fletcher has also released up to $60 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to accelerate the response in the DRC and help preparedness in neighbouring countries, notably Uganda, South Sudan and Burundi.

“But we need to act with urgency, and parties need to facilitate humanitarian access wherever it is needed.

“Borders and supply routes must remain open, and donors must ensure that pledged funding reaches responders quickly and flexibly. Now is the time to invest in preparedness.

“The best defence against Ebola remains strong surveillance, laboratory testing, referral systems, infection prevention and control, and community engagement,” Mr Dujarric quoted Mr Fletcher as saying. 

(NAN)