Kampala, Aug 8 (IANS): A man suspected of suffering from the deadly Ebola virus disease (EVD) has been put in isolation in central Uganda's Entebbe town, media reports said Friday.
The suspect was travelling from South Sudan and was stopped Wednesday after screening by health ministry officials at Entebbe airport, 35 km from the national capital Kampala, the Daily Monitor reported.
The tests for EVD are being done at the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe, said Jane Aceng, the director general of health services at the health ministry.
She said there was no cause for alarm as the suspect came from South Sudan, which has not had any case of Ebola recently. “We are isolating anybody who has signs. If his results show that he is negative, we will let him go,” Aceng said.
Uganda, an East African country, has sent a team of its most experienced doctors and nurses to West Africa to help countries that are struggling with an Ebola outbreak there.
The World Health Organisation Friday declared the EVD outbreak in West Africa an international health emergency.
Ebola is a highly infectious disease with high grade fever and bleeding tendencies. According to WHO, the virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.