Uganda: Mbale City Authorities Stop Relatives From Exhuming Ebola Victim

Mbale, Uganda — Mbale City authorities have denied allegations that the body of an Ebola victim recently buried in their area, was exhumed. Asumin Nasike, the Mbale Resident City Commissioner, stated that reports circulating on social media about the exhumation are false.

Nasike explained that while the relatives had initially intended to exhume the body for an Islamic burial, health experts and city authorities intervened, warning them about the potential risks involved. City officials have emphasized the importance of preventing the spread of Ebola, advising against social gatherings, handshakes, and encouraging people to report any suspected cases to nearby health facilities.

Meanwhile, Moses Mugonyi, the Mbale City Health Officer, confirmed that there are currently seven suspected Ebola cases in quarantine, with test results pending from the Entebbe virus laboratory. It is important to note that Ebola is a highly infectious disease, and handling the bodies of victims requires extreme caution.

In 2022, a similar incident led to the spread of the disease when 23 people contracted Ebola after exhuming a body. Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a viral hemorrhagic fever that affects humans and primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically appear within two to three weeks of infection and include fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches.

Last week, Uganda confirmed an outbreak of Sudan Ebola Virus Disease (SUDV) in the capital city of Kampala. The announcement was made by the Ministry of Health today following positive tests from three National Reference Laboratories.

“Our rapid response teams are fully deployed, contact tracing is underway, and all necessary measures are in place to contain the situation. We assure the public that we are in full control,” Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine told the press this afternoon.

She explained that, “the confirmed case, designated as the index case, is a 32-year-old male nurse, an employee of Mulago National Referral Hospital who initially developed fever-like symptoms and sought treatment at multiple health facilities.”

The male nurse sought treatment at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Saidina Abubakar Islamic Hospital in Matugga in Wakiso District, and Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in Mbale City, as well as from a traditional healer.

Atwine said the patient presented with a five-day history of high fever, chest pain, and difficulty in breathing, which later progressed to unexplained bleeding from multiple body sites.

“The patient experienced multi-organ failure and succumbed to the illness at Mulago National Referral Hospital on 29th January 2025. Post-mortem samples confirmed Sudan Ebola Virus Disease (SUDV). Currently, no other health care worker or patient on the ward has presented with signs or symptoms of Ebola,” Dr Atwine said.

This would be the 7th Sudan virus outbreak.

The last outbreak ended on 11th January 2023, with 164 cases (probable and confirmed) traced and 55 confirmed deaths, according to a paper Sudan Ebola virus (SUDV) outbreak in Uganda, 2022: lessons learnt and future priorities for sub-Saharan Africa by Dr Ambrose Talisuna et al. This was the sixth reported Ebola outbreak in Uganda since the first in 2000 where a cumulative total of 325 cases and 224 deaths were recorded.

The first documented EVD outbreak occurred in 1976 (47 years ago) in communities located near the Ebola river and was designated Ebola Zaire.

In the same year, an Ebola outbreak occurred in Sudan caused by a different virus strain that was designated SUDV. Since then, there have been several SUDV outbreaks, all in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The most deadly of all EVD outbreaks occurred in 2014-2016, in West Africa, where 11,310 deaths and approximately 28,600 cases were recorded.

“There is no specific treatment or vaccine for SUDV but it exists for the Zaire strain. Consequently, there is an urgent need to address the current SUDV outbreak control gaps,” said Dr Talisuna et al in their paper.

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There have been seven previous outbreaks of the Sudan ebolavirus, with four occurring in Uganda and three in Sudan

Case fatality rates of the Sudan virus have varied from 41% to 100% in past outbreaks.

Ministry of Health action

Currently the Ministry has;

I. Activated the Incident Management Team and dispatched Rapid Response Teams to both Mbale City and Saidina Abubakar Islamic Hospital in Matugga

II. Contact listing; 44 contacts have so far been listed (30 Health workers and patients from Mulago, 11 Family Members of the deceased,and 4 health workers from Saidina Abubakar Islamic Hospital in Matugga)

III. The deceased will be accorded a safe and dignified burial to prevent spread of the disease

IV. Vaccination of all contacts of the deceased against EVD is set to commence immediately.

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