Tanzania is on high alert as the government is investigating two reported cases of a suspected Ebola outbreak in the country’s northwestern region near the border where an Ebola outbreak has killed at least 16 people.
A Tanzanian mother and son, who suffered Ebola-like symptoms after returning from a trip to Uganda, are isolated at the Nyakahanga Hospital in the Karagwe District, Kagera region in northwestern Tanzania on Monday. They are being confined until doctors await the result of their blood tests to know if they have the deadly disease.
The World Health Organization stated on Friday that the number of suspected cases in Uganda is now 53 and the death total remains at 16. Of the 32 suspected cases that reside in the Kibaale district, 312 contacts have been identified, and most of these are being carefully monitored. Death rates from the Ebola virus range from 50 to 90 percent and there is no known cure or treatment except to treat the symptoms. In related news, two other suspected cases of infection were also reported in Kenya but these turned out to be false alarms.
If these two cases test positive, then it seems that proper precautions to contain the disease have failed. Soon, the entire region will have to go through a very thorough quarantine to make sure that the possibility of someone making it any farther from the epicenter is at most doubtful. But until that happens, there is no telling what got out of Uganda.
Source: Tanzania on High Alert After Suspected Ebola Case