By Hanning Mbabazi
A nine-year-old girl who tested positive for Ebola in Uganda after traveling from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo has died.
According to health reports, the child who is of Congolese origin, was diagnosed after exhibiting symptoms at a border crossing in Kasese district on Wednesday August 28.
“She passed on at around 07:00am this morning,” said Yusuf Baseka, a health director in Kasese, a district in southwestern Uganda along the border with DR Congo.
Baseka also said She was subsequently isolated and transferred to an Ebola treatment unit where her body would be repatriated to DR Congo.
He added that a team is on standby at the hospital to bury the victim.
The father of the deceased said, his wife is still being monitored at Bwera Hospital.
“This was my firstborn daughter, we are still trying to make burial arrangements. The Health workers here are in touch with people in DRC to try and decide whether we should take the body back to DRC or bury here on government land.” He said.
In June, three members of a single family tested positive for Ebola in Uganda after entering from DR Congo. Two died in Uganda while the third succumbed to the disease after returning to DR Congo.
As of August 6, a total of 2,781 Ebola cases have been reported in DRC. 1,866 cases have so far died with 94 probable cases being monitored.
Uganda has been on high alert since the start of an Ebola outbreak in neighbouring DR Congo since August 2018.
