UGANDA
Diseases Without Borders
A 5-year-old boy died of Ebola on Wednesday in Uganda, becoming the first cross-border victim of a deadly outbreak that has so far been limited to Congo.
In response, an expert committee from the World Health Organization will meet Friday to again weigh whether to declare a global health emergency, the Associated Press reported.
With 1,400 people dead in Congo, the outbreak is already the second largest ever. Making matters worse, the authorities believe the risk it will spread to neighboring countries is high due to rebel attacks and local resistance that have hampered the medical response.
The boy who died was among a dozen or so people stopped at the border who already showed signs of suffering from the disease, which is fatal in up to 90 percent of cases. But six of them, including the 5-year-old, left the isolation center where they were sent and sneaked into neighboring Uganda, a local coordinator of response teams told the agency.
“Many people are evading (border) customs and using small footpaths and it is difficult for us to follow the contacts,” the aid worker said.
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