The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health has closed Saidina Abubaker Islamic Hospital and evacuated all health workers to an isolation facility to stop the spread of the Ebola Sudan virus. Last week, the Ministry of Health announced the outbreak of the Ebola Sudan virus after a 32-year-old male nurse, an employee of Mulago National Referral Hospital, died.
Initially, the nurse developed fever-like symptoms and sought treatment at different health facilities, including Saidina Abubakar Islamic Hospital in Watubba in Wakiso district, Mulago Referral Hospital, and Mbale Regional Hospital, among others. The patient presented with a five-day history of high fever, chest pain, and difficulty in breathing, which later progressed to unexplained bleeding from multiple body sites.
The patient experienced multi-organ failure and succumbed to the illness at Mulago National Referral Hospital on January 29, 2025. Post-mortem samples confirmed Sudan Ebola Virus Disease. Dr. Emmanuel Mukisa, the Wakiso District Health Officer, said that the Ministry of Health has since ordered Saidina Abubaker Islamic Hospital to be closed after 21 health workers and support staff underwent isolation after coming into contact with the deceased.
Mukisa said that currently, the hospital has been closed to enable the health ministry to disinfect all the wards to stop the spread of the virus. Mukisa added that the facility will be reopened after the elapse of the mandatory 21 days of isolation and upon confirmation that health workers are free from the disease. “Currently, the hospital can’t operate because all health workers are under isolation within designated places and the process of disinfecting it started today,” Mukisa said.
Mukisa added that they are also tracing Arima Clinic in Nabweru division to close it and order health workers to go for isolation after they got reports that the victim passed there for treatment before he was evacuated.“All we are doing is a precautionary measure to ensure that the disease doesn’t spread in the community through the health facilities. We have also put up a toll-free 0800300223 number, where people can report any suspect and we evacuate him or her as District Task Force,” Mukisa said.
The District Task Force on Ebola has also ordered public places to install handwashing facilities and encouraged residents to walk with sanitizers as a protective measure against the Ebola virus. Sheikh Ali-Ali Lubowa, the Principal Hospital Administrator of Saidina Abubaker Islamic Hospital, told a URN on the phone that they have complied with the Ministry of Health directive and closed the facility as a precautionary measure.
“Myself and other health workers are also currently under isolation at Mulago Referral Hospital as per the Ministry of Health directive,” Lubowa said. The deceased nurse, who was the husband of a staff member, was booked in the High Dependency Unit at Saidina Abubaker Islamic Hospital on Saturday, January 25, 2025, in critical condition and was attended to by a doctor together with other nurses.
Hours later, the relatives asked that the patient be referred to Mbale Regional Hospital, and a discharge letter was given to them on their request. The Ministry of Health confirmed on Tuesday that an additional two samples from close relatives of the deceased health worker had tested positive for the viral disease.
According to the World Health Organization, Ebola is transmitted by coming into contact with infected animals when preparing, cooking, or eating them. It can also be transmitted through the body fluids of an infected person such as saliva, urine, feces, or semen. It is also spread through the body fluids of an infected person like clothes or sheets. Ebola enters the body through cuts in the skin or when touching one’s eyes, nose, or mouth.
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