Residents of Pakwach district are in panic mode after the death of unidentified Congolese woman with Ebola like symptoms.
According to Dr. Paul Ajal, the Pakwach District Health Officer, the Congolese woman died on Sunday evening in Nyabang village in Alwi Sub County after presenting with joint muscle pains, stomachache, body weakness, lack of appetite, sore throat and vomiting before passing on.
Dr. Ajal adds that the Ebola response team in the district acted swiftly and isolated the body from exposure to other community members and submitted samples to Uganda Virus Research Institute-UVRI for examinations to establish the cause of death.
Robert Steen Omito, the Pakwach LC 5 chairperson accuses local leaders of harboring foreigners entering the district illegally.
“Of late, we have been having a number of Congolese especially in the villages of Nyabang, Alli, Abongu and Adhiri who are freely entering our land. Now this one has died and everybody has taken off in fear. All this goes back to our local leaders who are being bribed to allow foreigners to enter the country illegally”, he said.
The district is now investigating how the deceased and other Congolese nationals entered Uganda and has also called on government to act swiftly and restore sanity on the porous border posts to deter illegal entry of foreigners.
World Health Organization WHO says there have been 2,025 cases of Ebola and 1,357 deaths from the virus during the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
