EU allocates €200,000 to combat Ebola outbreak in Uganda

The European Union has mobilised 200,000 euros to help the Ugandan Red Cross in the face of a fresh Ebola outbreak which has already left more than 40 people dead in the country, the European Commission announced in a statement on Tuesday.

The EU is responding to the urgent appeal for help launched by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Uganda declared an Ebola outbreak on 20 September after confirming a case in Mubende district in central Uganda, where a 24-year-old man died from the Ebola virus after contracting the rare strain from Sudan.

This strain is not only less transmissible but also has a lower mortality (40-100%) than the Zaire strain (70-100%).

There is currently no approved vaccine against this Sudan strain, unlike the Zaire strain, which has been recorded in epidemics of the disease in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which on 24 September announced the end of its last Ebola outbreak.

Countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Somalia are on the alert to prevent the possible spread of the virus.