Uganda confirms a case of Ebola virus in the east of the country as the outbreak spreads

KAMPALA (Reuters) – Uganda’s health minister on Sunday reported confirmation of Ebola in the eastern town of Jinja, the first time the disease had spread to a new area from the hub where cases have so far been confined.

Authorities have been fighting to contain the highly contagious and deadly hemorrhagic fever since the epidemic was declared on September 20.

So far, Uganda has recorded a total of 135 confirmed cases and 53 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

Health Minister Jane Ruth Assinge said in a tweet that Jinja’s case involved a 45-year-old man who died on Thursday. Health workers at a private clinic where he received treatment obtained a sample that tested positive for Ebola.

“Contact tracing and epidemiological investigations have been activated,” Acing said.

The virus circulating in Uganda is Sudan’s strain of Ebola, for which there is no proven vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain, which spread during recent outbreaks in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ebola usually kills half of the people it catches. (Reporting by Elias Priaparima; Editing in Spanish by Carlos Serrano)