ABSTRACT
Situated at the geographical heart of the African continent, Uganda
lies in a region where many viral disease epidemics, leading to many
deaths, have emerged in the recent past, such as Ebola hemorrhagic
fever (EHF), Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF), yellow fever, Congo
Crimean hemorrhagic fever, and Rift Valley fever, all of which have
been recorded in Uganda and in the neighboring countries of Kenya,
Tanzania, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),1−7
the most feared being the viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs). Over
the years, outbreaks of VHFs, particularly Ebola and Marburg, have
constituted amajor public health problem in sub-SaharanAfrica.8−10
Since 1976 several member states in our region have been affected:
Angola (Marburg 2005), DRC (Ebola 1976, 1995, 2007; Marburg
1999), Gabon (Ebola 1996-1997, 2001-2002), Republic of Congo
(Ebola 2002, 2003, 2004), and Uganda (Ebola 2000, 2007-2008;
Marburg 2007). There have also been outbreaks of Rift Valley fever
virus in Kenya (1998, 2007) and Tanzania (2007).2,8,10−13
Ebola and Marburg, belonging to the family of filoviruses, are
very deadly viruses that keep resurfacing as outbreaks in Africa.10
The Ebola virus, probably the most scary and deadliest virus
anywhere on earth, has a 50%–90% death rate and kills usually
within two weeks of infection.9,14,15 The lethal nature of the virus
varies with the particular strains.8,9 The first Ebola outbreaks
recorded were in the DRC and Sudan in 1976,4,16 while the first
outbreak of the second member of the Filoviridae family, the Marburg virus (MARV), was detected in Germany and Yugoslavia
among workers in laboratories who had been handling African
green monkeys (imported from Uganda) in 1968.17,18 The virulence
of Marburg is also high ranging from 23%–90%.19−21 The viruses are believed to be initially transmitted to a human via contact
with an infected animal host.13 From the first human infected, the
viruses can then be transmitted by human contact with infected
blood and body fluids of a diseased person and with contaminated
medical equipment, such as needles.13 Three species of fruit bat
were identified as carrying the Ebola virus and did not exhibit
symptoms and are now believed to be the natural host species, or
reservoir, of the Ebola and Marburg viruses.22,23
