Schools Closed, Funeral Moratorium Imposed as Ugandan Ebola Cases Increase

Nairobi, Oct 17, 2000 (EFE via COMTEX) -- The Ugandan government ordered the closing Tuesday of all schools and imposed a moratorium on all funerals as the outbreak of the Ebola virus detected in northern Uganda continued to spread, with new cases being reported and the current death toll of 40 expected to rise.

      According to Ugandan radio reports monitored in Nairobi, Kenya, at least 10 more people admitted to hospitals in northern Uganda have the deadly Ebola virus.

      The latest cases have raised the total number in the northern Ugandan region of Gulu, the epicenter of the outbreak, to more than 80.

      Medical personnel throughout the area are continuing their efforts to contain the spread of this highly contagious and fatal illness even as a wave of terror has swept through the local population.

      Concern has spread throughout Uganda and the other nations in Africa''s Great Lakes region over the deadly virus.

      The Ebola virus is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, and government officials are concerned that local customs, such as the washing of bodies before cremation, could allow the virus to spread rapidly.

      Ebola outbreaks have been reported periodically throughout Equatorial Africa since 1976. Some strains of Ebola cause death in as little as 24 hours after symptoms first appear.

      An Ebola infection begins with headaches and later causes hemorrhaging from every bodily orifice. There is no known cure for the disease, which is fatal in 90 percent of cases.