Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Uganda Takes Steps To Prevent Deadly Illness From Crossing Border As Ebola Outbreak Spreads In Congo
On Tuesdays and Fridays, an estimated 19,000 people stream down the hill from Congo鈥檚 North Kivu province to cross the border into this small town (Mpondwe, Uganda), many of them headed to a sprawling open-air market. In recent weeks, crossing the border has become more difficult as Ugandan health authorities have beefed up precautions against the spread of the Ebola virus. An outbreak centered in North Kivu is responsible for 105 confirmed or suspected cases, including 67 deaths, according to Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who has just returned from the area. (Sun and Bernstein, 8/24)
The world has never been so prepared for an Ebola outbreak, but the latest emergence of the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo鈥檚 conflict-ridden east is proving the most dangerous in years. Seventy-two out of 111 patients who have been infected with the hemorrhagic fever have died, making this outbreak the deadliest in more than a decade in Congo, where the disease was first diagnosed in 1976 and named after the nearby Ebola River. (Bariyo and McKay, 8/26)