Residents of Muhorro Sub County in Kibaale district are complaining about the slow response by the Ebola task force to pick up suspected Ebola victims from the area. They fault the task force of failing to pick up Rod Mugarura, a suspected Ebola victim despite the fact that the authorities were notified two days ago. Mugarura, a vendor at Muhorroh market fell sick on Tuesday. He is vomiting and has diarrhea, signs residents say are common amongst Ebola patients.
Rodney Musoke, a resident says that Mugarura lives in a rented room with four minor, who are at risk of contracting the disease since he is the one catering for them. Musoke warns of a demonstration incase health officials do not respond before the end of today. Adam Muhumuza, a resident of Muhorro Township says despite that they were provided with the Hotline for the Ebola health team, they have not been helped at all.
Muhumuza says at times the numbers are busy or when they are picked, the respondents claim they have no fuel to drive to the areas where the suspected victims are found. He says as a result, several residents have fled the area for fear of contracting the disease. Stephen Byaruhanga Mfansingabo, the secretary for health and vice chairperson Kibaale district Ebola taskforce admits there has been delayed response to Ebola alerts because of lack of funds.
He says ever since the outbreak early this month they have solely depended on handouts from individuals and charity organizations to handle the situation. Mfansingabo explains that a team has however been dispatched to Muhorro to pick the suspected patient. Doctor Dan Kyamanywa, the Kibaale district Health officer blames the delayed responses to alerts made at night and those that come in at random from different places, saying the ambulances cannot move to all the places at once.
He also says the health ministry has released some funds to the district today to handle the situation. Although he did not reveal how much they have received, he says the money will help efforts to combat the disease. At the time of filing the story a truck from the National Medical stores was offloading medical supplies and costumes at Kagadi hospital.
Meanwhile the number of Ebola patients admitted at Kagadi hospital has reached 31 with eleven new admissions on Wednesday evening and one on Thursday morning. The death toll remains at 18 and the cumulative figure of the cases so far registered is 50 ever since the disease broke out in the district early this month. The number of people being monitored has also shot up from 140 on Wednesday to 232.
