Government urges researchers to refocus on Ebola cure
L-R: Ms Susanne Spets, the Deputy Head of Mission from the Swedish Embassy, Makerere University Chancellor Mondo Kagonyera, and Education minister Jessica Alupo share a light moment during Makerere’s research symposium at Hotel Africana in Kampala yesterday. Photo by Michael Kakumirizi
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The expert said universities need to research about the disease to close the gap because many times when the fevers break out, they catch health workers by surprise.
Kampala- The Ministry of Health has asked researchers to refocus their energies on finding the cure for Viral haemorrhagic fevers, which have become a threat on the continent.
Speaking at the Makerere University international research and dissemination symposium at Hotel Africana in Kampala yesterday, Dr Monica Musenero, the Health ministry’s assistant commissioner, Epidemiology and Surveillance Division, said the origin of the filoviruses which cause Ebola and Marburg remain a dilemma to the health fraternity worldwide.
“We don’t know up to now where the Ebola virus really hides. It is not clear how the virus is maintained in the environment and moves from one place to another when there is no outbreak,” Dr Musenero said.
“We don’t have locally available research. We take long to detect them and manage them effectively. Bats are suspected to play a role but entry into human population is often difficult to determine,” she added.
The expert said universities need to research about the disease to close the gap because many times when the fevers break out, they catch health workers by surprise.
Ebola is believed to be transmitted through contact with infected animals such as monkeys, chimpanzees and gorillas.
Giving her experience in West Africa last year where the disease has claimed more than 1,000 lives, Dr Musenero said doctors have to be suspicious of any signs a person presents. “When I was in West Africa, we saw people who went around for almost 10 days with just a mild cough and yet they were spreading the virus. You don’t think they are actually sick.
By the time they are down, they have infected the entire village. It becomes very difficult to trace who has been in contact with this person,” she said.
