While the rest of us were enjoying turkey and time with friends and family, outbreak investigators were trying to control the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
A ten person team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deployed to Uganda remained there through the holiday season attempting to control the Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak. One of their efforts is the establishment of a laboratory in Entebbe so that diagnostic testing can be performed.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe, often-fatal disease caused by a virus belonging to the same family as the virus that causes Marburg hemorrhagic fever.
The current outbreak in Uganda is responsible for 123 cases, 34 of whom died. An earlier outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in October of 2007, resulted in more than 170 deaths.
Read more about hemorrhagic fever:
Marburg Fever: African Fruit Bats Potential Reservoir
Sources:
