Date: Fri 4 Jun 2010
Source: Uganda Health News [edited]
<http://www.ugpulse.com/articles/daily/news.asp?about=Ugandans+flee+Island+on+Lake+Victoria+over+an+outbreak+of+strange+disease&ID=14692>
Ugandans flee Island on Lake Victoria over an outbreak of strange disease
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Hundreds of people on Sigulu Island on Lake Victoria have fled their
homes this week [week ending 4 Jun 2010] due to an outbreak of a
strange disease. Field reports indicate that at least 2 people have
been killed by the strange disease and more than 20 have been
admitted to Uganda and Kenyan hospitals.
Dr. Stephen Kirya, the Bugiri district health officer, says some of
the people who have fled from their homes are displaced within Bugiri
town council. The strange disease broke out on the Island last week.
The victims complain of stomach pains, headache and diarrhea. The
doctors say the outbreak of this strange disease is not cholera.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The description of the symptoms of the illness alarming the
inhabitants of Sigulu Island on Lake Victoria is not sufficiently
specific to suggest a diagnosis. A haemorrhagic fever seems unlikely
and none of the diseases featuring in previous ProMED-mail posts
originating from Uganda in 2010 seem appropriate (see below).
Rift Valley fever has been reported in animals in neighboring Kenya,
but so far not in humans (see: Rift Valley fever - Kenya: alert,
prevention 20100520.1675). ProMED-mail would welcome specific
information about this outbreak of illness from an informed source in
the region.
Bugiri District is a district in eastern Uganda. named after its
'chief town,' Bugiri, where the district headquarters are located.
The map of Uganda at
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bugiri_District_Uganda.png> shows
its location on the northern shore of Lake Victoria. The
HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Uganda can be accessed at:
<http://healthmap.org/r/0089>.
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