East African community member countries are in panic following reports of the first death due to Ebola in Uganda’s capital Kampala.
He was the 19th victim in the current outbreak of the deadly virus but the first to die in Kampala.
He was from outside the city but Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said the man ran away from his village, disguised his identity and visited a traditional healer in a different region.
He died at Kiruddu National Referral Hospital last Friday, but the death has only just been confirmed.
Dr Aceng said that teams which treated him were alert to the dangers and had protected themselves, because the patient arrived at the hospital when he was seriously ill.
Details indicate a 24-year-old-man was the first known Ebola death, and six members of his family also died. Four health workers have also been among the victims, including a doctor from Tanzania.
The Ugandan health ministry confirmed that there have been 54 confirmed cases in Uganda but no others have been recorded in the city.
Twenty people have recovered including five medics from the first hospital where a case was treated. They were discharged on Tuesday.
No effective Ebola vaccine is available yet, because the Sudan strain circulating in central Uganda is different to the Zaire strain that has afflicted West Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo and which can be immunised against.
Experts say it is unrealistic to think Ebola will ever be eradicated, but with swift action and effective contact tracing it is now easier to prevent a crisis.
