Virus structure
The Ministry of health has confirmed the outbreak of Rift valley fever in Kabale western Uganda. The new reports in the Ministry of health given to the media at the media centre today by the Director General of health services Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng show that there are three new suspected cases identified and their blood samples are yet to be tested. The first confirmed case is 45-year old butcher from Kabale town council. The patient reported to Kabale Regional Referral Hospital on March 4th 2016 and was later referred to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital for a Blood transfusion. He is currently admitted in an isolation ward at Mbarara RRH but improving steadily. The second confirmed case is of a 19-year-old student from Kabale town who had contact with livestock and other domestic animals at their family home.
Dr. Aceng says that no deaths have been reported since the outbreak of this fever on 4th March this year. The newest three cases recorded as of 15th March include a 75 year old man from Rubaya subcounty in Kabale district, an 11 year old boy from Bugongi in Kabale town while the third suspect is currently admitted at Rugarama hospital in Kabale district and she added that their test results will be out by Friday this week.
She says that this disease has never been reported in humans and animals in Uganda before this outbreak. Noted that a Multi-sectoral National Task Force has been set up to coordinate all efforts towards the control and management of the outbreak under the One Health Approach. This task force is composed of officials from the Ministries of; Health; Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries; Water and Environment; Uganda Wildlife Authority together with development partners; the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and other implementing agencies.
The ministry of health says that a multi sectoral rapid response team of experts has been dispatched to the district to support both clinical and public health investigations. The Ministry of Agriculture is undertaking a detailed investigation to confirm the virus. Rift Valley Fever is an acute fever-causing viral disease that affects domestic animals (such as cattle, sheep, goats and buffalo, camels) and humans. People who become ill usually experience fever, generalised weakness, back pain, dizziness and weight loss at the onset of the illness and typically patients recover within two days to one week after onset of the illness.