The spectre of the Ebola virus has always been around. But it appears like it is looming larger, and the World Health Organization has urged Uganda’s neighbours to prepare as the virus spreads through the country’s capital.
Uganda’s ministry of health acknowledged an outbreak of the Ebola virus in September. Since then, there have been over 150 confirmed cases of the virus in the country, with about 64 deaths.
According to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, since the virus spread to the Ugandan capital, about 17 cases have been confirmed there.
He further noted that although the cases are linked to known clusters, the cases are in densely populated areas, which highlights the risks of further transmissions. Given this morbid reality, he noted that the urgency of increased readiness in areas surrounding where the virus has spread – the surrounding countries. The Ebola virus is noticeably deadly, so although the numbers might appear few, it takes nothing from the lethality of the virus.
The Ebola virus is nothing novel. On the contrary, it has been around for decades, occasionally lashing out at mankind with mordant lethality.
It remains to be seen if Uganda’s neighbour will listen to the warning from WHO or end up having a fire-brigade approach to it.
