A nurse from Uganda’s Ministry of Health observes a passenger arriving from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa at Entebbe Airport, Kampala Uganda on Friday. A health desk has been set up at Entebbe International Airport hoping to catch those showing symptoms of the Ebola virus before entering the country. Uganda has had numerous outbreaks of the infectious and fatal disease, however has been praised for containing the virus with few casualties.KAMPALA, Uganda – When Ebola hit Uganda two years ago – the third outbreak in a dozen years – the president quickly went on TV and urged Ugandans to avoid touching each other. Health officials speedily quarantined people. The quick reactions by authorities and ordinary people helped snuff out that outbreak with only 17 deaths.
Over the decades, Ebola cases have been confirmed in 10 African countries, including Congo where the disease was first reported in 1976. But until this year, Ebola had never come to West Africa. When people began dying there in March in an outbreak that on Friday escalated into an international public health emergency, governments and ordinary citizens didn’t know what they were confronting or how to respond, allowing the virus to spread out of control.
Some five months ago, deep in the steamy forests of southern Guinea, people began developing fevers with body aches, diarrhea and vomiting, which are some of the symptoms of the virus. Others might also progress to internal and external bleeding.
Even when they died, relatives touched and washed the dead, unaware that cleaning up vomit, diarrhea and handling soiled clothing is very risky because the virus spreads through contact with bodily fluids.
Malaria – a common killer in Africa – was believed by some families to be the cause of death. As more people became gravely ill, some desperate relatives took their loved ones to the distant capital in search of better medical care, jammed into minivans or other transportation. People who came into contact with those who showed symptoms also became infected, and they in turn infected other people as they traveled freely.