Uganda’s health ministry declared an outbreak in the central district of Mubende on Tuesday, the country’s first since 2019.
“The confirmed case is a 24-year-old male… (who) presented with EVD symptoms and later succumbed,” the ministry tweeted.
The World Health Organization said earlier on Tuesday that a 24-year-old man in Mubende had tested positive for “the relatively rare Sudan strain” of the virus.
“This follows an investigation by the National Rapid Response team into six suspicious deaths in the district this month,” WHO stated. WHO reported that eight other suspected patients were being treated.
“This is the first time in more than a decade that Uganda has recorded the Ebola Sudan strain,” WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti said.
“We are collaborating closely with national health authorities to investigate the source of this outbreak while also supporting efforts to quickly implement effective control measures.”
According to the WHO, there have been seven previous outbreaks of the Sudan strain, four in Uganda and three in Sudan.
The global health organization said it was assisting Uganda’s health authorities with their investigation and was deploying personnel to the affected area.
