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Elegu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Health officials in Amuru District are investigating a suspected case of Mpox disease, reported at the Uganda-South Sudan border town of Elegu over the weekend.
Dr. Alfred Okello, the Acting Amuru District Health Officer says a Ugandan male adult was taken into isolation on Saturday after presenting with symptoms of body rashes accompanied by fever, and Headache.
The patient according to Okello is a resident of Lorikwo West village in Elegu town council who works as a broker between Elegu Town council and neighboring Nimule Township in South Sudan.
“The patient wasn’t feeling fine, and he was reported to medics over the weekend. He was around the border point at the time and our health team had to temporarily isolate him. It’s from there where a blood sample was taken from him for further test,” says Dr. Okello.
Dr. Okello says blood samples have already been taken for testing to the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) while the patient remains in isolation at Bibia Health Center III in Atiak Sub-County.
He notes that the district health team has already reactivated the emergency team to handle the epidemic and advised locals to regularly wash their hands and avoid bodily contact.
Health officials at Elegu Border point say screening of travelers entering and exiting Uganda has been heightened at the border following the suspected case of Mpox but are challenged with inadequate sample testing kits.
Close to 1,000 people are screened daily at the Elegu border point according to health officials, the majority being travelers and refugees from South Sudan and Sudan.
Amuru Resident District Commissioner Stephen Odong Latek says they will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to assess the district health department’s preparedness in handling any likely outbreak of the disease.
Latek notes that they are waiting for the laboratory test result which was picked from the suspected patient from UVRI which will inform major decisions.
Early this month, the Health Ministry announced it had registered two imported cases of Mpox in the Western district of Kasese from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). No new case has since been reported around the country.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
According to WHO, Common symptoms of mpox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions that can last 2–4 weeks and are accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and enlarged lymph nodes.
The disease can be transmitted from human to human through direct contact with infectious skin or other lesions such as in the mouth or on the genitals.
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