Body of the 9-year-old Congolese girl who succumbed to Ebola in Kasese has been sent back home for burial.
The victim who had travelled to Uganda on Wednesday from Democratic Republic of Congo-DRC to receive treatment for Ebola was identified at the Mpondwe border crossing before being admitted to the Ebola Treatment Unit at Bwera Regional Hospital.
However, Dr Bernard Opar, the Assistant Commissioner Infection Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health says the child died on Friday at 7:30 am, while both her parents are still being monitored at the treatment unit at Bwera Hospital.
This evening, Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu the Minister of State for Primary Health Care said the girl’s body had been taken back home for burial.
“The body of the deceased confirmed Ebola case from DRC in Kasese District has been sent back to DRC. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family” the minister said.
She added that by 5 contacts were line listed for follow up; 3 shared the ETU with confirmed case on the 28 August 2019, while two were attendants to patients in the ETU. All these five are Congolese and were transported in the same ambulance with the confirmed case from Mpondwe PoE to Bwera ETU.
Dr. Moriku says that by Thursday evening, 4 of these contacts had been taken back to DRC for vaccination and effective follow up. The fifth contact who is the mother to the confirmed case would later travel back to return to DRC for burial of her deceased daughter.
So far, the World Health Organization has vaccinated over 8,000 individuals against EVD in all Ebola high risk districts as part of its preparedness. This was revealed by Yonas Tegegn, the WHO Representative to Uganda on Friday.
