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Date: Fri 3 Aug 2012 Source: New Vision via AllAfrica.com [edited] http://allafrica.com/stories/201208040122.html Uganda: Ebola - Death Toll Rises to 17 -------------------------------------- One more person is suspected to have died of the deadly Ebola virus in Kagadi hospital, while another 2 patients have been admitted to the hospital's isolation ward today. "The patient had been admitted in the isolation ward, with signs of having contracted Ebola. But, he unfortunately died in the evening, on arrival in the isolation ward," Dr. Dan Kyamanywa, who is Kibaale's district health officer, revealed. This brings the death toll to 17, and the suspected patients admitted to 31, according to Dr. Kyamanywa. Only 2 patients out of those admitted were on Wednesday confirmed to have contracted Ebola; 3 others were earlier this week also confirmed to have contracted Ebola, after laboratory tests were conducted. A total of 7 more specimens were taken on Wednesday [1 Aug 2012] from the patients admitted at the isolation facility bringing the total number of samples collected since the [beginning] of the outbreak to 37, according to Dr. Lwamafa. Results are to be released soon. The samples are currently being investigated at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe. The health ministry's surveillance team in Kibaale district is actively and closely following up 232 people suspected to have been in contact with the dead and sick. They continue to monitored even though they have not showed any symptoms of the disease yet. More so, in Kibaale district, one of the prisoners, who had been admitted to the isolation ward, escaped and is yet to be found. An inter-ministerial committee on Ebola has been formed to coordinate the management of the epidemic.
