CA Doctors On Alert Amid Ebola Outbreak In Uganda

CALIFORNIA — Doctors across California were placed on alert after a significant Ebola outbreak has continued to grow in Uganda over the past several weeks, officials announced.

Ebola cases have been reportedly circulating around rural areas of the East African country, but no cases have been reported in the capital, Kampala, or Entebbe, where the nation's international airport operates, according to the California Department of Public Health.

"However, spread of the outbreak within the region is possible due to several factors including the likelihood that EVD was spreading several weeks before identification of the index case," CDPH officials wrote in a bulletin.

Officials also warned that not all early transmission chains were traced and some of the first victims who died were traditionally buried with large ceremonies. What's more, some of the first cases of the outbreak began in a mining region along a main highway just two hours away from Uganda's capital city and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Some California counties began rolling out their own plans to mitigate potential infections this month after the federal government announced it would reroute travelers who have been to Uganda in the past 21 days — the length of the incubation period — through five U.S. airports.

The U.S. airports through which travelers will be rerouted for health screenings are JFK Airport in New York, Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey, Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., O'Hare Airport in Chicago and Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta.

Screenings involve a temperature and symptom check conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC will also collect contact information that will be shared with local health departments at the travelers' destination.

About 145 people per day enter the U.S. from Uganda, with most already arriving at the five large airline hubs, according to the agency.

Ebola has infected 58 people in Uganda since Sept. 20, when authorities declared an outbreak. At least 19 people have died, including four health workers. Ugandan authorities were not quick in detecting the outbreak, which began infecting people in a farming community in August as the “strange illness” described by local authorities.

Although no cases have been confirmed in Kampala, health officials in Uganda were rattled earlier this month after a man fled the central district of Mubende and died at a hospital in the capital.

In the U.S., no Ebola cases have been reported, according to CDPH, but clinicians across California and the nation were urged to look out for symptoms.

"So just to remind you what to watch out for: fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and it’s followed by vomiting and diarrhea and bleeding from gums, et cetera, but not in everyone," UC San Francisco infectious diseases expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong recently told his colleagues, the Los Angeles Times reported. "So far, not a concern in the U.S., but again, something we’re watching really closely."

Los Angeles County announced their response to the federal move on Wednesday.

"The risk of Ebola virus disease in L.A. County is low, as no travelers coming from Uganda within the past 21 days will be coming directly through LAX," the county health department said. "Any such travelers will first be screened for EVD (Ebola virus disease) and cleared to continue travel at the five U.S. airports (named by the federal government)."

Ebola, which manifests as a viral hemorrhagic fever, can be difficult to detect at first because fever is also a symptom of malaria.

Person-to-person transmission of Ebola occurs through direct contact with blood or other body fluids of a person who is sick or died from the virus. Ebola can also spread through direct contact with contaminated objects like needles or syringes. It does not spread through airborne transmission, according to the CDPH.

Ebola is a rare disease caused by a virus. It was first discovered in Africa. In 2014, the largest Ebola outbreak in history occurred in West Africa, caused by an Ebola virus species known as Zaire ebolavirus.

In February 2021, outbreaks of that Ebola strain were identified in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Currently, there is an ongoing outbreak in Uganda that began last month -- caused by Sudan virus (species Sudan ebolavirus).

In the United States, a vaccine has been approved for the Zaire ebolavirus species, but it is available only through the CDC and is recommended as pre-exposure prophylaxis vaccination for specific people who are at potential occupational risk of exposure. The vaccine has been used to control Ebola outbreaks in Africa, but currently there is no approved vaccine against the Sudan ebolavirus species, the health department said.

The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.