Uganda confirms Marburg case as Ebola outbreak continues

AI Summary

Uganda has confirmed a new case of Marburg disease amid an ongoing Ebola outbreak as reported by the World Health Organization. The case involves an 18-month-old girl from Kyegegwa district who died under suspected Ebola symptoms but tested positive for Marburg virus.

A new case of Marburg disease has been registered in Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed.Teams are already on the ground to help the East African country stem the spread as it continues to battle Ebola, said WHO. “WHO did receive official communication from Uganda on 30 June of one confirmed case of Marburg disease,” said Catherine Smallwood, incident manager for the Ebola desk at WHO’s offices in Kampala.The case involves an 18 month old girl from the western district of Kyegegwa. The child “had died as a suspected Ebola case, but when the sample was tested as Uganda does for all viral haemorrhagic fever cases, it turned positive for Marburg disease,” Smallwood told The BMJ.WHO is now requesting further details from the Ugandan government. The BMJ contacted Uganda’s health ministry, which declined to comment.Smallwood said that WHO was “already supporting a range of responses across the country...