UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th June, 2019) Aid workers have launched an emergency Ebola response plan in Uganda following the confirmation of the first deaths from the virus in the East African country, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a press release on Thursday.
"UNICEF has launched an emergency Ebola response plan in Uganda following the confirmation of the first three cases of Ebola Virus Disease in the country over the past two days," the release said.
Earlier in the day, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Ugandan authorities had confirmed two deaths linked to Ebola.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the victims of the outbreak in Uganda are a 5-year-old boy and his 50-year-old grandmother who succumbed to Ebola virus after attending the burial of their relative who died from the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The UNICEF response in Uganda will include home visits to inform the population about Ebola prevention and timely care-seeking, the provision of sanitation, water and hygiene supplies, mentoring of medical workers on effective prevention methods and training Uganda Red Cross volunteers to provide psychological help, the release said.
The UN agency also appealed for $3.9 million in funds to implement the emergency response plan in Uganda.
The UNICEF announcement comes ahead of a meeting of the WHO Emergency Committee on Friday in Geneva to assess whether to announce a public health emergency related to the Ebola outbreak.
According to the UN's latest numbers, 2,084 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the DRC, with 1,405 deaths.
The Ebola virus is transmitted from human to human through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. The WHO estimates it to have a 50 percent fatality rate.
