Ebola scare: Uganda shuts down school across nation

Kampala/Uganda: Across Uganda, schools were closed on Friday over the Ebola scare. However health minister of the country reiterated that cases have declined, Agence France-Presse reported.

It was after the death of eight children due to Ebola earlier this month the administration decided to shut schools two weeks ahead of the end of the term.

But, the number of cases in the capital Kampala and the epicentres of Mubende and Kassanda declined in the past weeks, according to health minister Jane Ruth.

She said that communities in Uganda realizing that Ebola is deadly lethal is a major breakthrough for the country's fight against the disease.

She added that the administration encourages the population to remain alert and cooperate with health teams. There are signs that the country is winning the fight, she said.

The World Health Organisation in Uganda said on Thursday that as of November 22, zero cases were registered in Kampala, ten days in Mubende and 12 days in Kassanda.

So far, the outbreak has taken 55 lives out of 141 cases. The authorities had imposed lockdowns in Mubende and Kassanda. There were curbs like dusk-to-dawn curfew and a ban on personal travel while markets, bars and churches were shut down.

The outbreak was declared in Mubende on September 20, and it later spread across the nation.

As per WHO criteria, Ebola ends when there are no new cases reported for 42 successive days, which is double the incubation period for the disease.

The current virus strain circulating here is the Sudan Ebola virus, for which no vaccines are available. However, some manufacturers are heading towards clinical trials of their prototypes.

Ebola spreads through bodily fluids, and symptoms include fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.