Uganda this week confirmed an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the capital Kampala with the first confirmed patient dying from it. Ebola outbreaks have historically sent waves of fear across communities, leaving behind a trail of devastation. Unlike many other viruses, Ebola progresses rapidly, often leading to death within days. It triggers severe internal and external bleeding—known as hemorrhagic fever—resulting in organ failure and shock.
Victims endure agonizing symptoms, including intense vomiting, relentless diarrhoea, extreme dehydration, and unbearable pain. What makes Ebola particularly terrifying is its lethal nature, rapid spread, and the limited treatment options available. The combination of its gruesome effects, the absence of a definitive cure, and the widespread panic it incites cements its place as one of the most feared diseases in human history. Uganda this week confirmed an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the capital Kampala with the first confirmed patient dying from it, the health ministry said on Thursday.
It is the East African country's ninth outbreak since it recorded its first infection of the viral disease in The patient, a male nurse at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, had initially sought treatment at various facilities, including Mulago, as well as with a traditional healer, after developing fever-like symptoms.
Uganda last suffered an outbreak in late and that was declared over on January 11, , after nearly four months in which it struggled to contain the viral infection. The last outbreak killed 55 of the people infected and the dead included six health workers.
With Ebola cases reported in Uganda and the Marburg virus in Tanzania, Kenya faces a significant health threat. These highly lethal diseases, responsible for over 11, deaths worldwide, spread through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.
