Boy dies of Ebola in Uganda in first cross-border case from current Congo outbreak

[June 12, 2019]  By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA (Reuters) - A five year-old boy has died of Ebola in Uganda, a health official said on Wednesday, in the first case of the disease crossing the border from the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The boy died overnight, the official told Reuters, after entering Uganda from Congo with his family. His mother had returned to Congo to nurse her father, who died of the disease, the health minister said on Tuesday.

The official asked not to be named.

Four of the boy's relatives are being monitored in isolation wards and two of them are being tested for Ebola after exhibiting symptoms of the disease, the health minister said on Tuesday. Results are expected on Wednesday.

The boy's case is the first known example of Ebola crossing the border since the current outbreak began in August in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Experts from Uganda's health ministry, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been dispatched to the area of the outbreak.

Congo's health ministry said on Monday that it had recorded 2,062 cases of Ebola, including 1,390 deaths, since the epidemic began in eastern Congo.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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