Uganda declared Marburg free
State Minister in Charge of Primary Health Care, Ms Sarah Opendi
KAMPALA-The Ministry of Health has declared Uganda Marburg free.
On 19 October the ministry declared the outbreak of Marburg following laboratory tests at the Uganda Virus Institute where one person was confirmed to have succumbed to Marburg on 13 October in Kween.
The State Minister in Charge of Primary Health Care, Ms Sarah Opendi said it is exactly 42 days since one person suspected to have had Marburg symptoms died and that it is also 42 days since the last confirmed two cases died in Kween and Kapchorwa districts.
“We followed up 311 people and 18 of them had had Marburg related symptoms from Kween and Kapchorwa and today it is 42 days, Marburg has been contained and the Ministry of health is therefore pleased to officially declare Uganda free from the Marburg viral disease,” Ms Opendi said on Friday at the Uganda Media Centre.
This declaration comes after 42 days of post- MVD surveillance count down period for the contacts of the last confirmed cases as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) requirement for declaring an end to an outbreak of any viral haemorrhagic fever.
She said the government of Uganda has spent close to Shs3.5 billion on efforts to treat and contain the epidemic in collaboration with development partners and private partners in the country.
She said ministry of health held extraordinary cross-border surveillance meetings with WHO, District Health Teams and other officials on 7 November in Kapchorwa District to serve as a platform for sharing surveillance data, epidemiological and other related information.
The meeting were also used to develop common plans for cross-border surveillance, epidemic preparedness and joint outbreak response to facilitate sharing of information and laboratory and other resources, synchronize outbreak response interventions and joint designation of ground crossing points for the implementation of the international health regulations.
The World Health Organisation country representative, Dr Jack Abdonlie commended all organizations that participated in containing the outbreak.
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