Uganda confirms new Ebola cases

Uganda has confirmed three new cases of Ebola, bringing the total number of infections in the country to five. These new cases include a driver who transported the first confirmed patient, a health worker exposed while caring for that patient, and a Congolese woman who traveled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Uganda with symptoms. The World Health Organization has revised its risk assessment for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola to 'very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at global level'. Authorities in Uganda have intensified surveillance, contact tracing, and public awareness efforts, and have suspended public transport to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo remains the epicenter of the outbreak, with nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths. The International — United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is allocating up to $60 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to aid the response. Challenges in containment include late detection, lack of a vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain, armed violence, and high population mobility.