There are no other reported cases of the virus in Mbarara, which like Gulu, is a military town. Nine new cases have been identified in Gulu during the last 24 hours bringing the total number of Ebola cases in Uganda to 297, Opio said. Health authorities have been saying the disease is has been contained for days and the number of cases is reducing. However, deaths will continue to occur because of the number of people already infected. Ebola, which is spread by bodily contact, can cause severe hemorrhagic fever and is often fatal.
Early symptoms are similar to the flu, a situation that has led to many false reports.
No one knows where the virus exists between outbreaks or how the first person in an outbreak contracts it. There is no medical cure for the Ebola virus, but patients aggressively treated to reverse dehydration have a good chance of survival. Opio said five people had been discharged from hospitals during the last 24 hours, bringing the number who have recovered from the virus to 171. Experts from World Health Organization, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and Doctors without Borders are in Uganda helping authorities contain the disease. The Associated Press .