Ugandan authorities are working to identify people who may have come into contact with a woman who displayed symptoms of Ebola in a Uganda market last week, before dying later in Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo.
The woman, a well-known fishmonger according to a local district health official, vomited at a market in Mpondwe on the Ugandan border last Thursday – before returning to DR Congo and dying from Ebola.
She is said to have crossed into Uganda from DR Congo through an unofficial border point.
The WHO and the Uganda Health Ministry have confirmed that the fishmonger died from the virus.
An estimated 600 fishmongers and money changers at the Mpondwe border market are being identified and will be vaccinated.
In June, there were two Ebola deaths in western Uganda, near the border. Since then, no other Ebola cases have been reported within Uganda.
The latest incident increases the risk of Ebola spreading in Uganda, but authorities say they will not be closing the border market for now.
Over 6,000 people, mostly front-line health workers, have been vaccinated in Uganda since November 2018.
Since Ebola broke out in DR Congo, over 2,000 cases have been reported, and the viral disease has killed more than 1,500 people.
Source: BBC News
