A nurse in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, died after testing positive for Ebola, a health official said Thursday, in the first recorded fatality since the last outbreak ended in 2023.
Ebola, which is spread by contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials, manifests as a deadly hemorrhagic fever. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.
Diana Atwine, permanent secretary of the health ministry, told reporters Thursday that the 32-year-old male patient was an employee of the main referral hospital in Kampala.
After developing a fever, the patient was treated at multiple locations in Uganda before multiple lab tests confirmed he was suffering from Ebola.
Uganda has had multiple Ebola outbreaks, including one in 2000 that killed hundreds.
