# 1319
Sad news to report out of Uganda, where the new strain of Ebola continues to spread, claiming lives as it does. Dr. Jonah Kule, who admitted himself into the hospital last Friday with mild non-specific symptoms, died yesterday of Ebola.
The reportage coming from ParadoxUganda is both chilling and informative.
This is how they announced the death of their good friend and colleague.
Dr. Jonah Kule...killed by Ebola
Dr. Jonah Kule died this evening, Tuesday 4 December, at Mulago Hospital.
We have lost one of our best friends.
To say nothing of the devastating impact on his family, on the district, on the country.
Ebola is horrific. There are no words to express our grief. And this makes the whole epidemic even more frightening, if that were possible.Pray fiercely for an end to this, soon.
From their latest blog entry, we learn that 3 of 6 infected health care workers have now died, and the hospitals are nearly deserted.
Since every day seems like a week, multiple posts seem appropriate.
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.
So it is not surprising that both Scotts found the hospitals rather empty of patients and short on staff. Many are afraid, but a few brave and hard working souls persist.
And here is how the mainstream press is covering this story. This from AFP.
Two doctors die as Uganda Ebola toll climbs to 21
december 5 2007
KAMPALA (AFP) — The Ebola virus has killed two doctors in western Uganda, bringing the toll to 21 since the strain first appeared in September, an official said on Wednesday.
"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.
Kampala's Mulago hospital is the largest in the country. Some health officials have said that a lack of appropriate equiment in Mulago and other hospitals has allowed the virus to spread.
The health ministry confirmed the latest fatalities caused by the virulent local strain of Ebola, which kills up to 90 percent of its victims, mostly by puncturing blood vessels and spurring non-stop hemorrhage.
Eight pathogen experts from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC) arrived in the country on Tuesday to help battle the disease that has infected at least 64 people in Uganda.
Efforts to isolate suspected patients in the rural district neighbouring the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have failed as many residents fear hospitals are unsafe, authorities have said.
The rare disease, named after a small DRC river, killed at least 170 people in northern Uganda in 2000, with experts blaming poor sanitation and hygiene.
It was first discovered in the DRC in 1976, but other outbreaks have been recorded in Ivory Coast and Gabon.
It is still unclear exactly what changes have occurred to the Ebola virus, and how this strain differs from the other's we've seen in the past. With people fleeing the area, and an undetermined incubation period, the worry is this virus will be spread unwittingly by people trying to escape to safety.
Ebola outbreaks have historically been self-limiting. Most die out after a few weeks and a few hundred victims.
As horrific as that is, one has to hope that this new strain plays by the same rules.
