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
Autori:
Sezioni:
Dossier:
Indice:
Virus
prossimo articolo
Oppenheimer, a film that equally addresses science and ethics
The story of the physicist Robert Oppenheimer is a controversial one, filled with both highlights and shadows. Although it has already been the subject of numerous biographies, it is now the focus of the eponymous film directed by Christopher Nolan. Fabio Terragni reviews it for 'Scienza in rete'.
It's true: Robert Oppenheimer didn't "invent" the atomic bomb. The most tragic achievement of 20th-century science and technology was the result of the first example of Big Science: the Manhattan Project, an unprecedented effort by the American government to outpace Nazi Germany, which cost over two billion dollars and involved tens of thousands of top-tier physicists, engineers, and technicians.