It looks like a normal day in Mubende. Shops are open and children are at school.
The ambulances that whisk past every few hours and the health workers who wash themselves meticulously before they return home are the only indications that it is not business as usual.
Twenty-nine people, including four health workers, have died as a result of the outbreak in the district.
The doctor who operated on the patient who later tested positive for the virus was Mohammed Ali, a 37 year old doctor from Dar es Salaam. The number of reported cases has increased with the addition of six more workers.
Kesande Pamela is the owner of a shop in Mubende town centre. I need to keep my shop open. We are trying to stay safe. We are hopeful.
The president of Uganda told the people that the outbreak was under control. We have been able to control this outbreak before. He said there was no need for anxiety, panic, restriction of movement or unnecessary closing of public places.
The situation in Uganda is very serious according to Dr. Christopher Mambula, programme manager for Médecins Sans Frontires. He said that the lack of a vaccine to treat the Sudan virus was a concern and that cases were rising daily.
Vaccines are not effective against the Sudan virus, which is the cause of the recent outbreak of the Ebola disease in the Democratic Republic of theCongo. Two of the vaccines could begin clinical trials in Uganda in the coming weeks, according to the WHO.
If you have spread in more than one place, it raises the question of whether or not there is a chain of transmission between those different cases. He said that it was very serious until we got the indication otherwise. It is possible to go a week without seeing a case then suddenly 50 cases come up in a single day.
It looks like it is increasing and not decreasing at this point in time. There isn't anything to say that it's in control.
First cases of deadly Marburg virus have been reported.
The health workers are worried that the disease could spread to refugee camps. Mubende is a three hour drive from the capital of Uganda. Some 200,000 of Uganda's 1.5 million refugees are housed in refugee settlements along this route.
The WHO has given $2m from its emergency fund and is sending additional specialists, supplies, and resources to help Uganda's Ministry of Health contain the virus. The treatment unit is located in Mubende hospital and will be opened in Madudu sub-county.
The health minister wants more international support. Efforts made so far are important but need to be intensified if we are to end the epidemic today. I am counting on all of you to help end the epidemic in our country.
The African Union's Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Uganda would host a meeting next week with other African countries that have been affected by the disease.
The Sudan strain of the disease has not been seen in Uganda in years. The country is still trying to recover from the effects of the Covid Pandemic.
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