Uganda loses fourth health worker to Ebola Virus Disease

The ministry of health has Wednesday confirmed the death of another health worker who succumbed to Ebola Virus Disease, EVD at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital.

The Health Minister doctor Jane Ruth Aceng announced on Twitter, that 58-year-old Margaret Nabisubi an anaesthetic officer died on Wednesday at 4.33 am.

“I regret to announce the passing of another Health worker, Ms Nabisubi Margaret, an anaesthetic officer. The 58-year-old succumbed to Ebola at 4.33 am this morning at Fort Portal Hospital (JMedic) after battling the disease for 17 days,” Dr Aceng said.

Nabisubi is one of the six medical workers from Mubende Hospital who were transferred to Fort Portal last week. after they tested positive for Ebola.

The minister further noted that Nabisubi is the fourth health worker to have succumbed to Ebola since the outbreak was announced.

“The late Margaret is the 4th health worker we have lost in the current Ebola outbreak after the probable case of the midwife, Dr Ali and the health assistant in Kagadi District. May their souls rest in eternal peace,” she said.

Over the weekend, Saturday, Dr Mohammed Ali, a 37-year-old Tanzanian national succumbed to Ebola. Dr Ali was pursuing a Master of Medicine degree at Kampala International University and had been placed at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital for an internship. 

On Sunday, he was buried at a cemetery in Fort Portal City due to safety and precautionary measures that are taken while handling such epidemics.

Fort Portal referral hospital has been managing six health workers after they were transferred from Mubende Regional Referral Hospital for proper management and treatment last week.

According to a source at the Ministry of Health, the dead health workers and their ailing colleagues unknowingly operated on an Ebola patient before it was confirmed.

Uganda’s Health Ministry confirmed an outbreak of Ebola in Mubende District last month after a sample taken from a 24-year-old male from Madudu sub-county came out positive for the Sudan strain of Ebola.

The disease has since been confirmed in four districts including Mubende where the first case was reported. Others are Kyegegwa with three confirmed cases, Kassanda with one case, and Kagadi where another case was confirmed case.