Advertisement

Doctor: Uganda Ebola outbreak tapering off

KIGADI, Uganda, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- With no confirmed deaths in 11 days, the latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Uganda appears to be tapering off, a doctor says.

Dr. Paul Roddy, an epidemiologist with the French medical charity Doctors Without Borders, told the BBC the disease could flare up again and the outbreak will not be defined as contained until no cases have been confirmed for 42 days.

Advertisement

"We are still receiving admissions of individuals that meet the clinical and epidemiological case definitions, but we have not had a laboratory-confirmed Ebola death in 11 days, and the last identified individual that we received with a positive laboratory confirmation was six days ago," Roddy said.

The current outbreak began in Kigadi in western Uganda.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is caused by any of four related viruses. The disease has a high death rate and has no cure, although the symptoms can be treated.

Latest Headlines