Ebola continues unabated

A total of 110 people have died since Ebola hit Uganda

By Anna Borzello in Kampala

Three people have died of Ebola in Masindi, northern Uganda, as the epidemic which began mid-September continues to spread.

The Health Ministry said that the disease, which has so far claimed 109 lives was brought to Masindi by a woman who had travelled from the northern Ugandan district of Gulu, which is at the centre of the outbreak.

Four people have also died in the past three weeks in the western Ugandan district of Mbarara after an infected soldier travelled to the region from Gulu.

The Health Ministry, however, remains optimistic that the epidemic which causes death by severe bleeding can be brought under control.

Traditional burial

Dr Sam Akware, head of the national task force on Ebola, told the BBC the disease was carried to Masindi by a woman who had been admitted to a Gulu hospital with liver problems.

Health workers are battling to contain the virus

The woman discharged herself and returned to her village, where she died soon after.

Dr Akware said it was likely she had contracted Ebola from an infected patient in the hospital.

The woman was given a traditional burial which involved her relatives washing the corpse.

This is one of the principal modes of transmission for Ebola, which is spread through contact with infected bodily fluids.

The woman's daughter and a relative then fell sick, but the authorities only realised Ebola was in their midst when her husband was admitted to Masindi's principal hospital, where he died over the weekend.

Quarantine

The Ugandan Health Ministry has sent experts to Masindi to try and stop the disease from spreading.

Their methods include public education and setting up a hospital isolation ward.

Both the outbreaks in Mbarara and in Masindi have been caused by an infected person travelling out of Gulu.

But the Health Ministry continues to maintain that it is not necessary to quarantine the region.