A nine-year-old Congolese girl who tested positive for Ebola in neighbouringUganda has died of the disease, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the current outbreak was approaching the grim milestone of 3,000 cases and 2,000 deaths.
Her death makes her the fourth case to cross into Uganda amid the continuing struggle to contain the deadly outbreak.
“She passed on at around eight o’clock this morning,” said Yusuf Baseka, health director in Kasese, a district in southwestern Uganda along the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The child was diagnosed after exhibiting symptoms at a border crossing in Kasese on Wednesday.
Eddy Kasenda, Ebola representative in the Congolese border town of Kasindi, said the girl’s body would be repatriated for burial.
“We are finalising the administrative formalities so that the body is repatriated and buried here in Congo, her native country,” said Kasenda. “We are collaborating with the health services of neighbouring Uganda and we will strengthen the sanitary measures here in Kasindi.”
