Nairobi, 8 Dec (EFE).- Uganda today received a first batch of 1,200 doses of experimental vaccines against the Sudanese strain of Ebola, a disease that has killed 55 people and infected 142 since 20 September. The minister of Ugandan Health Jane Ruth Aceng reported today.
“Uganda is well prepared. Our scientists are fully trained and ready to start trials of these vaccines,” Aceng said in an online news conference.
“Also, Uganda will receive more doses of these vaccines next week, which will help us fight the Ebola epidemic,” he added.
The World Health Organization (WHO) delivered the first batch of vaccines to the Ugandan health authorities of the city of Entebbe (downtown) this morning.
From that city, WHO director of health emergencies for Uganda, Charles Njuguna, highlighted the arrival of vaccines as “historic”.
“For the first time, clinical trial-ready vaccines were produced in less than 90 days of the start of an Ebola outbreak. This was possible through many efforts,” said Njuguna.
Unlike the Zaire strain of Ebola, there is not yet an approved vaccine to deal with Sudan’s much more unusual strain.
As Uganda prepares to immediately roll out these vaccines to populations most at risk, such as those who have had contact with infected people or healthcare workers, Aceng celebrated the slowing of the infection rate in recent weeks.
Indeed, in three of the nine districts affected by Ebola, no new cases have been detected in the last 42 days.
Even so, the Minister of Health stressed the importance of “continuing to monitor the situation”.
“This does not mean we are done with Ebola. We will remain vigilant. We will not close our Ebola treatment units. We are entering a festive season and Uganda must remain on high alert,” he stressed.
In this sense, the WHO director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, stressed that Uganda “must not let its guard down” because “Ebola can be unpredictable”.
Furthermore, Aceng recognized the need to improve several aspects of the current Ebola response in the African country, such as the coordination of Ugandan authorities with their international partners and the protection of health workers.
Uganda declared this outbreak after confirming a case in Mubende district (middle), where a 24-year-old man died from the disease caused by this virus.
Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Somalia are on alert to prevent a possible spread of the epidemic.
Discovered in 1976 in the DRC – then called Zaire – Ebola is a serious, often fatal disease that affects humans and primates and is transmitted through direct contact with blood and body fluids of infected people or animals.
It causes severe bleeding and its first symptoms are sudden high fever, severe weakness, body aches, headache and sore throat, as well as vomiting. EFE extension
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