Uganda on alert after Ebola outbreak in neighboring DR Congo

Kampala: Uganda said on Friday that it is on high alert following an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the...

Kampala: Uganda said on Friday that it is on high alert following an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has so far claimed 15 lives.

Henry Kyobe Bosa, incident commander at the Ministry of Health, told Xinhua by telephone that authorities are closely monitoring the situation and will conduct a risk assessment before developing measures to prevent possible importation of the virus.

Health officials in the DRC's capital of Kinshasa on Thursday declared an outbreak of the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus in Bulape health zone, where 28 suspected cases, including 15 deaths, have been reported. Four health workers were among the victims.

"The free movement between the two countries, back and forth, remains, which poses a challenge of importation," Kyobe said. "As soon as the risk assessment is done, we shall put in place interventions."

The World Health Organization has warned that infections could rise further in the new outbreak in the DRC's south-central province of Kasai, the country's 16th Ebola outbreak since 1976.