You would rather not know about the disease. The mortality rate is often over 50% and the body bleeds to death in the last stages of the disease. It is not as infectious as Covid-19 because it is spread through body fluids. Those most at risk of the disease are healthcare workers and family members.
Uganda is battling a large outbreak of the disease. There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the Sudan strain of the virus that causes the Uganda outbreak. Public health experts are concerned about the new outbreak. As with Covid-19, the race is on to find an effective vaccine, there are two potential candidates from Oxford, and clinical trials are launching in the middle of the outbreak.
The head of the World Health Organization said there have been more than 50 confirmed cases of the disease. Health workers were responsible for four of the deaths. There were cases in the Mubende district. Along the busy highway that runs between Kampala, a densely populated and globally connected capital, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, gold traders are very mobile. The United States has begun redirecting travellers from Uganda to five US airports in order to screen them for the disease and is currently monitoring them for 21 days. Some of the countries that are neighbours are on alert.
The health workers died in the Ugandan outbreak.
The disease made global news in the year. It was called the "Isis of disease" and a panic set in when there were cases of the disease in Europe. The third highest search term in America in the year was "Ebola", which was the most searched for question in the country. It has mostly disappeared from the public imagination in western countries. There has been an outbreak of the disease in the country. We now have two approved vaccines against the Zaire strain of the virus, as well as an effective treatment for it, thanks to the recent outbreak in the country.
All of us are sick of Viruses and diseases. Many people don't want to hear about public health and hygiene efforts anymore because of the effects of covid. Viruses don't care what we think or what we want to hear. Our efforts to stay ahead of the various germs trying to kill us is based on science and data. Our thinking about the Covid epidemic is shaped by survival bias. It's easy to say that the post-vaccine era wasn't bad because we're surrounded by people who were affected. They don't have a voice.
According to the Ugandan health secretary, local people didn't seek medical care because they thought the new outbreak was caused by witches. Government intervention created a better understanding of the disease's cause. The rumour that Covid is a hoax and that vaccines are killing people are just two examples of how rumors can undermine health efforts in all countries.
Other countries have been urged to provide funding to support Uganda's public health workforce. Single-use medical gowns, double nitrile gloves, masks, face shields, surgical hoods, and long boot coverings are needed by health staff. The health secretary has made it clear that this disease could spread to other countries and on flights. Uganda is in need of assistance. The country also faces a resurgence of Malaria, Tuberculosis, HIV, as well as the toll of Covid-19, all while having less resources than western countries.
The calls from Uganda's health secretary have been met with silence and a sense of fatigue. Yoweri Museveni, Uganda's own president, said last month that there was no reason for fear or restrictions on movement. Similar splits have been seen in Britain between politicians and health experts. The outbreak will become harder and harder to control if it reaches Uganda. The quicker other countries help Uganda control the outbreak, the less likely you will be reading about the first cases in Britain or Europe.
Control of infectious diseases has been a key reason for international cooperation. Governments came together at the first international sanitary conference in order to stop the spread of diseases. It is only a plane ride away from an infectious disease. There is a clear imperative to stop outbreak wherever they occur.
The University of Edinburgh has a chair in public health.
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