Kasese, Uganda | URN | A nine-year-old Congolese girl who tested positive for Ebola in Kesese, after travelling from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has died, a Ugandan health official has confirmed.
“She passed on at around 0800 (0500 GMT) this morning,” said Yusuf Baseka, health director in Kasese, a district in southwestern Uganda along the border with DR Congo.
The victim had travelled to Uganda on Wednesday 28th from DRC to receive treatment for Ebola. She was identified at the Mpondwe border crossing before being admitted to the Ebola Treatment Unit at Bwera Regional Hospital.
Dr Bernard Opar, the Assistant Commissioner Infection Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health say that the child died on Friday at 7:30 am. He says that a team is on standby at the hospital to bury the victim.
The father of the deceased says that his wife is still being monitored at the treatment unit 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 says.
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The girl is the fourth victim diagnosed with Ebola in Uganda to have died from the haemorrhagic fever.
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.
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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.
