Last week, the army called in the Ministry of Health to monitor 15 soldiers who had participated in the burial of a Private Bushaijja, who died in Kampala and was buried in Mbarara. The 15 were isolated at Mulago Hospital after they developed high fever. The soldier, who was said to have died of ulcers while vomiting blood, was reported to have travelled from Gulu to Makenke military barracks in Mbarara. All his 11 contacts were warned and we are keeping them under surveillance. The investigation into Ebola in the army has fuelled speculation that the army could have concealed information about troops affected by the outbreak.
Observers point out that the outbreak first broke out in areas close to army barracks.
The Acholi parliamentary group has nominated legislator Okello Okello to sit on the National Task Force on Ebola, with the express objective of asking the army to open up on the Ebola situation there. But experts have argued that the theory that Ugandan soldiers returning from the Congo could have brought the Ebola virus into the country was doubtful as there have been no new cases reported in Congo since the last outbreak in Kikwit in 1995. Dr Okware said that the source of the outbreak had not been confirmed, and added that the strain had been identified as that from Sudan. However, he added that that country was not necessarily the source. The mortality rate still stands at about 36 per cent.