Fatal Ebola Infections in Three Health Care Workers in Uganda
Recombinomics Commentary
December 4, 2007
"The sad news is that our doctor who was admitted in Mulago died last night and a senior clinic officer who had been in critical condition died this morning," said Samuel Kazinga, district commissioner for Bundibugyo, the epicentre of the new outbreak.
Joshua Kule, the senior clinical officer, and the head nurse of the hospital (Peluce) also died this morning, so with Jonah that brings 3 of 6 health care workers admitted dying within 12 hours of each other.
The above comments describe the deaths of three health care workers in the past 12 hours. One had been admitted to the hospital in Kampala, while two were admitted locally. The high fatality rate for the health care workers as well as clusters of cases, raise additional transmission concerns.
One group was linked to attendance at a funeral, raising concerns of transmission by casual contact. The CDC is setting up a local lab for testing, so the number of confirmed cases should rise shortly, which will help determine the spread of the infections..
The sequence of the virus from patients is said to represent a new species, which is almost certainly a recombinant.
Details on the sequence would be useful.
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