The mysterious disease that killed 14 people in Uganda since the beginning of July 2012 has finally been identified as the Ebola virus. The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Uganda and a World Health Organisation (WHO) representative reported the news after laboratory confirmation was done by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe. A total of 20 total cases have been confirmed in Kibaale district, in the western part of Uganda, nine of which have occurred in a single household. Ebola virus causes haemorrhagic fever and internal bleeding; it is highly infectious as well as contagious.
The MoH coordinates a national task force and is cooperating with stakeholders, WHO and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in order to control the outbreak. Kibaale hospital has established a temporary isolation ward for suspected, probable and confirmed cases, with the collaboration of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
At the moment, WHO does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions are applied to Uganda.
Ebola outbreak in Uganda
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Karen Hallberg, on peace and science
In a world marked by wars and global crises, the new Secretary General of Pugwash tells us about the challenges of disarmament and the value of scientific dialogue for peace (photo: Karen Hallberg, source Wikipedia).
Pugwash is the name of a Canadian fishing village and a commitment to peace. In July 1957, at the height of the Cold War, twenty-two scientists gathered here for the first Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs. The group was led by the mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell, who, two years earlier on 9 July 1955, presented the Russell and Einstein Manifesto in London's Caxton Hall. In this manifesto, the philosopher and physicist (who died in April but had signed it) called on the world to renounce war.