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On January 11, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the Sudan ebolavirus disease outbreak in Uganda was declared over. This comes after waiting a required 42 days – or the equivalent of two incubation periods for the disease – during which there should be no confirmed cases or deaths. The Sudan ebolavirus outbreak in Uganda was first recognized on September 20, 2022, when a case was identified in a 24-year-old male during an investigation of six suspicious deaths in the district of Mubende during September. Cases continued to appear and spanned 9 health districts within the country. In the nearly four months of this outbreak, there were a total of 164 cases, 87 recoveries, and 77 deaths (including 22 deaths that were not laboratory confirmed), resulting in a case-fatality ratio of 47%. This is on par with the average case-fatality rate from the previous six outbreaks of Sudan virus of 50%.
This was the fifth ebolavirus outbreak in Uganda since the virus’s discovery in 1976, but the first caused by the species Sudan ebolavirus. The rare nature of this species of ebolavirus made containment all the more challenging. The only clinically tested and approved vaccines against an ebolavirus target a different species, Zaire ebolavirus, and do not offer protection against Sudan virus. This meant that efforts to control this outbreak relied solely on community education, contact tracing and monitoring, and modified healthcare practices. Although these preventative measures are heavily used during any ebolavirus outbreak, an effective vaccine could have greatly helped mitigation efforts. Several vaccine candidates which could be effective against Sudan virus are undergoing pre-clinical and clinical safety trials and will hopefully be prepositioned in the event of another outbreak.
The end of an outbreak is a reason to celebrate, but the work in Uganda continues. Programs have been established to support the individuals who recovered from the infection and health authorities remain on alert for any new cases that may appear.
Dr. Corri Levine is a Program Manager for Networking and Research Preparedness for the SPECTRE program, as well as the Director of the Biorepository for Severe Emerging Infections.
References
https://www.afro.who.int/countries/uganda/news/uganda-declares-end-ebola-disease-outbreak
https://www.afro.who.int/countries/uganda/news/uganda-declares-ebola-virus-disease-outbreak