The Ebola outbreak in Uganda has worsened, and the country’s ability to contain the spread has been severely weakened by the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign assistance, American officials said. Two more deaths, the mother and newborn sibling of a 4-year-old who died last week, have been reported. Eighty-two people have been identified as close contacts of the mother and her two children, 68 of whom are now in quarantine, while the others are still being traced. Public health workers’ ability to trace contacts and conduct surveillance for new cases is severely hindered without US assistance. Two contacts are already symptomatic and have been admitted to an isolation hospital ward. The 4-year-old was taken to four different health facilities before being diagnosed with Ebola, meaning many of those who have potentially been exposed to the virus are healthcare workers. The Ugandan government also lacks sufficient laboratory supplies, diagnostic equipment, and protective gear for medical workers and those tracing contacts, with the termination of grants from the US Agency for International Development impeding the ability to procure those supplies. American officials expressed concern that the country did not have an investigation on non-traumatic deaths in Kampala to determine if more might have been caused by Ebola. The Africa Centers for Disease Control said there have been five cases in the cluster that includes the 4-year-old, three confirmed and two probable. The outbreak has caused four deaths, 12 confirmed cases, and two suspected infections. Public health experts say it could get much worse without adequate resources to control it.
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