14 Killed In Uganda After Ebola Outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus that erupted in western Uganda at the start of July has killed 14 people.

The latest outbreak was in the western Kibaale district, around 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of the Ugandan capital Kampala, and around 50 kilometres from the border with Democratic Republic of Congo,

"We have confirmed 20 people who have contracted the virus of which 14 have died," Joaquim Sewaka, WHO Uganda representative, told AFP.

Sewaka said that teams from the Ugandan health ministry and the US government's Centre for Disease Control (CDC) had been dispatched to the area.

"The response is strong and we will try to set up quarantine points as soon as possible," Sewaka said.

The rare haemorrhagic disease, named after a small river in DR Congo, killed 37 people in western Uganda in 2007 and claimed the lives of at least 170 people in the north of the country in 2000.

Source: AFP