While the Ebola outbreak in Uganda has claimed 29 lives, including 4 health workers, WHO is concerned about the ineffectiveness of vaccines against the type of virus responsible for these new infections.
On Wednesday, Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, indicated that this Ebola virus declared in Uganda on September 20 is of the so-called “Sudanese” strain.
According to Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, there are three candidate vaccines against this strain that can be used in the field as part of a ring vaccination campaign. : “So far, 63 confirmed and probable cases have been reported, including 29 deaths. Ten health care workers have been infected and four have died. Four people have recovered and are receiving follow-up care.” he has declared.
Wanting to be reassuring, the WHO director-general added that it was normal for the numbers to steadily increase when there is a delay in detecting an Ebola outbreak. They are expected to decline as outbreak control measures are implemented, he said.
The organization said it has released two million dollars from its emergency reserve fund to help fight the outbreak in Uganda.
