NEWS: Swine flu confirmed in Uganda

Swine flu confirmed in Uganda

- from MONITOR ONLINE

Uganda’s first case of the H1N1 swine flu virus was confirmed Wednesday night in a 40-year-old man from the UK, the Ministry of Health announced Thursday.

The man arrived in Uganda on June 26, 2009 from London via Nairobi to Entebbe on Kenya Airways. He passed through the health checkpoint at the airport with no symptoms and proceeded to Kampala to visit Ugandan friends. He did not stay in a hotel.

After contracting flu symptoms, he was admitted to Entebbe Hospital where Wednesday night he was confirmed to have Influenza A (H1N1) by the health laboratories in Entebbe.

The patient has been isolated in Entebbe and is reported to be in good condition. Officials were not able to give more information about the man or his activities while in Kampala.

“The task force is ready and we are going to make sure that whatever cases are reported to us we can handle,” Mr James Kakooza, the State Minister for Primary Health Care, said yesterday.
The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the WHO has been working to prepare Uganda for the outbreak.

According to Mr Paul Kagwa, the assistant commissioner for health education and promotion, the country has been preparing for the virus for the past six monthsPassengers arriving at the Entebbe International Airport must pass through a special health screening before they proceed through immigration. The screening is a self-report questionnaire asking passengers where they are coming from and whether they have any flu symptoms.

When the man who is being kept at Entebbe Grade B Hospital arrived on the June 26, he had no symptoms and easily passed through the screening. The borders are also supposed to be carefully monitored, however, although Mr Kagwa told the Daily Monitor on Tuesday that all border points were being instructed to be “extra vigilant,” the first case seems to have caught the people manning them unaware.

An Akamba bus driver, who refused to be named for fear of being fired, told Daily Monitor that no health screening is taking place at the border. “No one is screened there, they only stamp the passport,” he said soon after arriving in Kampala yesterday morning from Kenya via the Busia border. Several others recently arrived in the country confirmed his report.

In response to the border situation, Mr Kakooza said the situation will be “beefed up.” “We are going to send another team to borders,” he said at a news conference at the media centre yesterday.

Dr Sam Okware, the director general of the Uganda National Health Research Organisation, said monitoring the entry points is not the most effective way to prevent the disease. He said individuals and communities themselves need to report outbreaks of the sickness.

Besides heightening surveillance around the country and promoting public awareness on the flu, the Ministry of Health and WHO have established a multi-sectoral National Task Force in recent months to coordinate all technical efforts and create strategies for preparedness and response.
Medicines (Tami Flu) for treatment are available in the country, laboratories have been strengthened so that they can undertake screening and diagnosis, and isolation facilities have been set up in Entebbe and Mulago hospitals, Mr Kakooza said yesterday. “Since its one case we have had now, I don’t think it has saturated all over,” Mr Kakooza told journalists.

Dr Saweka, the country representative of the World Health Organisation, warned against unnecessary panic. “Usually WHO does not recommend people going on the street with a mask,” he told journalists, adding that only those who are in contact with an H1N1 case need wear masks.

The H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as “swine flu,” is actually a type A influenza strain made up of a genetic combination of the swine, avian, and human influenza viruses. It is passed from human to human and cannot be gotten by eating pork as some suppose, Dr Okware said yesterday. “People should be encouraged to eat swine so that they can get their nutrition,” he said, laughing.

Kenya confirmed their first case of the H1N1 virus earlier this week in a British student who had travelled from Nairobi to Kisumu. “It seems Kisumu might already have 11 cases,” Dr Saweka said yesterday at the press conference. He later added that they are still waiting for final confirmation on those cases.

Until now, there were 96 confirmed cases across Africa, with Uganda now contributing the 97th. So far, none of these cases have been terminal. The Ministry of Health has urged the public to be vigilant and report any suspected cases.