Uganda starts Ebola vaccine trial after outbreak kills nurse, infects two

KAMPALA, UGANDA: Ugandan authorities on Monday began a clinical trial of a vaccine against the Sudan strain of Ebola that has killed one person in the outbreak declared last week.

Health workers and others exposed to the Ebola strain are being targeted in the study, which began four days after Uganda announced the death of a nurse in the capital, Kampala. Two more cases were confirmed on Monday in relatives of the first victim.

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Officials are investigating the source of the outbreak. Ebola is spread by contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.

Responding to this outbreak could prove difficult because Kampala has a highly mobile population of about 4 million. The nurse who died had sought treatment at a hospital just outside the capital and later traveled to Mbale in the country’s east, where he was admitted to a public hospital. Health authorities said he also sought the services of a traditional healer.