Ebola outbreak behind 14 deaths in Uganda, officials confirm - Toronto Star

Ebola virus

The deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in western Uganda this month, Ugandan health officials said on Saturday.

KAMPALA, UGANDA â€"An outbreak of Ebola in western Uganda has killed a family of 12 and two others since the beginning of the month, the Health Ministry said Saturday.

A health worker who treated patients infected by the disease, which causes hemorrhagic fever and internal bleeding, was also among the dead.

Ebola is highly contagious and has no known cure, although some patients do recover.

“Since July, a total of 20 cases and 14 deaths have been recorded,” said Dennis Rwamafa, director general of health services.

“Three samples taken from the dead confirmed Ebola to be present.”

In May last year, a 12-year-old girl died of the disease but no other people were infected.

Ebola first broke out in Uganda's northern district of Gulu in 2000, killing 224 people out of more than 400 infected. The disease re-emerged in 2008 in a western district close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 40 people.

The disease earned its name when it was first identified in the former Zaire in 1976 near the river Ebola, killing 250 people.

Authorities who established a task force dedicated to containing the outbreak have said that they are still investigating the origin of the latest epidemic.