An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Uganda has infected more than 330 people since mid-October and has placed staff at Ishaka Adventist Hospital on alert, says Dr. Allan Handysides, director of health ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide.  The majority of reported Ebola cases are in the Gulu district, in northern Uganda, but the most recent outbreak, involving five cases and four deaths, has occurred in the Mbarara district, just 60 kilometers from the 80-bed Ishaka Hospital.

Handysides says that his department first received information about the threat late last week from a surgeon at Ishaka Hospital who expressed concern about the outbreak in such close proximity to the hospital.  Since then, the health department has been working with Adventist Church administrators in the region to provide information and support to workers at the hospital as they implement precautions against a potential outbreak.

“The nature of this disease is so virulent and it is so rapidly transmitted that by the time you realize you have a case on your hands the number of contacts [with the infected person] is probably going to be very high,” says Handysides.

Uganda’s health authorities are working with members of the World Health Organization and Medecins Sans Frontieres to contain the outbreaks, in which 111 people have already died. With a mortality rate of 70 percent, Ebola hemorrhagic fever is highly contagious.  There is no vaccine and no effective treatment beyond placing the patient in quarantine and dealing with symptoms.  According to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, the United States, Ebola is often spread within a health-care setting; an infected patient may show flu-like symptoms and be treated in the hospital without isolation or special precautions being taken.

The Ebola threat poses a major dilemma for the medical workers at Ishaka Hospital and for church administrators, Handysides says.  “On one hand, there is a very legitimate concern for the safety of those working at the hospital, as well as their families,” he explains. “Yet on the other hand, we are concerned for people in the community and for providing health care for the community.”  Handysides also notes that people cannot flee an area once an outbreak has occurred because of the very real danger of spreading the infection to other regions.

Until danger of another outbreak is passed, Ishaka Hospital staff will remain on high alert, says Handysides.  He says that it usually takes a number of weeks for the situation to be contained.  When no new cases are reported for a period of time, local health authorities will declare the outbreak over.  In the meantime, a nurse from Ishaka Hospital has been sent to another, larger hospital for training in proper isolation and treatment procedures for Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

The Ebola virus was named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it was first discovered in 1976.  Scientists believe that between outbreaks the virus is carried in animals, perhaps monkeys.  Previous outbreaks of the disease have occurred in the Congo, Gabon, Sudan, and the Ivory Coast.

Special Audio Feature:  Dr. Allan Handysides speaks to Adventist News Network about the Uganda Ebola outbreak.  To listen, go to www.adventist.org .

Photos are available to accompany this story.  To view, go to www.adventist.org . To download higher resolution photos follow the link at the end of the online article.