EBOLA DISEASE – UGANDA (04): (KAMPALA) SUDAN VIRUS, NEW FATAL CASE
A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Fri 28 Feb 2025
Source: The New York Times [edited]
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/health/ebola-elon-musk-doge.html
The Ebola outbreak in Uganda, which had seemed to be in retreat, has
claimed a new victim: a 4-year-old boy who died on Monday [24 Feb
2025], according to a State Department cable viewed by The New York
Times.
News of the child’s death comes even as the Trump administration has
canceled at least 4 of the 5 contracts with organizations that helped
manage the outbreak. It also placed the manager of the Ebola response
at U.S.A.I.D. on administrative leave.
Uganda’s Ministry of Health informed U.S. officials of the death on
Thursday [27 Feb 2025]. The confirmed case has not yet been announced
by the Ugandan government nor the World Health Organization, but
federal officials involved in the response alerted the White House on
Thursday night [27 Feb 2025].
“Continued support from the terminated awards is not only vital to
save lives but also vital in protecting the health and security of the
United States and global community,” William W. Popp, the U.S.
ambassador to Uganda, wrote in the cable.
Uganda has experienced a serious Ebola outbreak since January [2025]
that had appeared to be receding. The new case brings the total number
of cases to 10, including 2 deaths. The first known fatality, a
32-year-old nurse, was reported in late January [2025].
The boy’s family had sought care for him at 3 different hospitals, the
cable said, and he died at the third, Mulago National Referral
Hospital in Kampala. His 3 siblings were reportedly ill but have
recovered, according to the child’s father.
The boy’s mother and her newborn infant died of unknown causes in
January [2025], the cable said.
The boy’s death is an indication that the virus is still circulating,
and the country has returned to a more active response, according to
the cable. Officials in Uganda have begun investigating the death,
tracing the child’s contacts and sequencing the virus.
U.S.A.I.D. was heavily involved in the Ebola response in Uganda, but
in recent weeks the Trump administration has hobbled its operations,
cutting the number of people involved in outbreaks from more than 50
to just 6.
Although U.S.A.I.D. is not the only supporter of the outbreak
response, it has been an important one. For example, the federal
Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response may provide
treatments, and U.S.A.I.D. may purchase the filter pumps that deliver
the treatment.
The terminated U.S.A.I.D. contracts funded Ebola screening at Ugandan
airports and protective equipment for health workers, and helped
prevent transmission by survivors of the disease, according to a
former agency official who asked to remain anonymous for fear of
retaliation.
At the airport in Entebbe, Uganda, screening was on pause for more
than 2 weeks because of the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign
aid, according to the official. The group that was doing it, the
International Organization for Migration, decided a few days ago to
resume work with its own funds. Its contract was terminated on
Wednesday night [26 Feb 2025].
The 1st Ebola patient in the current outbreak had gone to 6 health
care facilities before he died, prompting the Ugandan government to
ask the United States for protective gear for health workers.
U.S.A.I.D. stockpiles such gear at a warehouse in Nairobi, Kenya. But
its employees have been barred from communicating with the W.H.O.,
which managed the facility.
Officials at U.S.A.I.D. eventually paid about USD 100 000 to procure
the protective equipment elsewhere, but the contract with that
provider, too, has been canceled.
U.S. officials involved in trying to contain the Ebola outbreak are
trying to restore the contracts, noting that the work is crucial to
prevent the disease from spreading to other countries, including the
United States.
“Cessation of partners’ activities pose a grave risk to Uganda’s
ability to effectively respond and contain the virus,” the cable
said.