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By Our Reporter
Six new Mpox cases have been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases to 10, according to the latest National Monkeypox Situation Report.
The six additional cases were reported in Mayuge District (two cases), Kampala (two), Wakiso (one), and Kasese (one). The Director of Public Health at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, stated that of the 10 cumulative cases, three have recovered, and no deaths have been registered. The ministry is also monitoring 21 active contacts.
Dr. Kyabayinze noted that unlike the first imported cases, the new cases were transmitted within the country. He called for increased vigilance to prevent the disease from spreading further.
In an effort to curb community transmission, he mentioned that the government has embarked on sensitizing the public and health workers about the prevention and symptoms of the disease.
He urged health workers to be vigilant and look out for mouth sores in patients, especially in those with unexplained fevers.
Besides vaccination, the government has embarked on sensitizing the public and health workers about the prevention and symptoms of the disease
The Ministry of Health and its partners have rolled out several interventions in Kasese, the epicenter, as well as other affected districts such as Kampala, Wakiso, Amuru, and Mayuge to contain the disease.
Florence Kawala, the Assistant District Health Officer of Mayuge, reported that the two cases in her area involve a 24-year-old man and a 32-year-old man from Kityerera and Bugadi sub-counties, respectively. She mentioned that surveillance teams have been deployed to collect samples from the contacts of the new cases for testing.
Amidst the rise in cases, the Mpox Incident Commander at the Ministry of Health, Henry Kyobe, has assured the public that the situation is under control. “We have taken full charge of the situation, and it will not get out of hand. We have done this before, and we have been successful,” Kyobe stated.
He warned the public against stigmatizing Mpox patients, emphasizing that doing so could lead to patients hiding their condition, thereby continuing to spread the disease to family members and the community.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a disease found in wild animals like squirrels, rats, mice, and monkeys that can spread to humans. It is caused by the monkeypox virus, which is closely related to the smallpox virus. Smallpox caused significant devastation, killing many people worldwide before it was eradicated in the 1980s.
Uganda confirmed its first Mpox cases on July 24, 2024, following the confirmation of two cases from Kasese by the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). These two cases were among six individuals who had symptoms of Mpox.
Uganda is not the only newly affected country. Rwanda has reported four confirmed cases, Burundi 170, Ivory Coast 28, and Kenya and Mauritania each with one case. The Democratic Republic of Congo, where Mpox is endemic, has recorded up to 3,235 cases this year alone. Since 2022, the DRC has reported over 21,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
Torch Media Africa
