There is a confirmed outbreak of measles in Amuru District after test results from the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) returned positive for two children. The samples were sent to the institute on October 7th, following reports of suspected cases in Agwayugi Parish in Lamogi Sub-county.
According to Robert Onekalit, the Amuru District Surveillance Focal Point Person, the first confirmed case involved an eight-month-old baby girl from Jimo Village, Agwayugi Parish in Lamogi Sub-county.
The alert was first detected on September 26th, after the child developed symptoms consistent with measles and was later treated at St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor in Gulu City.
Onekalit, however, noted that while the child was treated at St Mary’s Hospital, Lacor, it remains unclear whether the Hospital authorities sent the sample for testing or managed it clinically. According to Onekalit, following the confirmation, other children from the same household began showing similar symptoms on October 7th. He said a total of 11 contacts from the same extended family are now under close monitoring by the district surveillance team to prevent further spread of the disease.
Onekalit said the investigation also indicates that the extended family has not immunized children below five years, a situation which puts others in the community at risk of contracting the highly contagious disease. “We are trying to do community sensitization and doing community-based surveillance. But at the moment, it’s still only in that family,” said Onekalit.
Geoffrey Osborn Oceng, the Amuru Resident District Commissioner, said they were preparing to hold an emergency health meeting on Tuesday to help draw strategies on mitigating the spread of the contagious disease. Oceng noted that the village health team in Lamogi and neighboring sub-counties have been urged to heighten surveillance and monitoring to help in containing further outbreaks in other areas.
“We urge all the village Health Team and the health workers to heighten their vigilance on their daily activities, and on that note, we are having a district task force meeting tomorrow to come up with a rapid response plan,” Says Oceng. The outbreak comes just months after the district suffered an outbreak of Cholera that claimed five lives and infected over 300 people, mostly the business communities of Elegu Town Council at the Uganda-South Sudan Border town.
While Amuru district has had repeated measles outbreaks over the years, new cases had not been registered in nearly a year. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Measles is a highly contagious viral disease characterized by fever, cough, red eyes, and rashes.
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