Uganda Health authorities to set up additional Ebola treatment centres as virus infects 109, kills 30

The Ugandan health authorities are setting up an additional treatment centre as confirmed Ebola cases rise to 109, marking a serious escalation of the outbreak declared just over a month ago.

On Wednesday, the country’s minister of health Jane Ruth Aceng confirmed that six schoolchildren in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, have tested positive for Ebola.

In a statement, the health ministry said the children are members of a family exposed to the disease by a man who traveled from one Ebola-hit district, sought treatment in Kampala, and died there.

The statement added that authorities are “following up” 170 contacts from schools the six children attend.

Ebola, which manifests as viral hemorrhagic fever, has infected 109 people and killed 30 since Sept. 20, when the outbreak was declared several days after the disease began spreading in a rural community in central Uganda.

The virus circulating in Uganda is the Sudan strain of Ebola, for which there is no proven vaccine.

Uganda plans to start trials for Ebola candidate vaccines as it seeks to curb the spread of the disease.

The government will evaluate the efficacy of the vaccines from University of Oxford, Sabin Vaccine Institute and Merck on those who were in contact with infected persons.