Ugandan Prez puts capital city on Ebola response alert

Kampala, Oct 18 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has put the country's capital Kampala on a high Ebola response alert as the east African country grapples with the deadly disease.

Museveni in a tweet on Monday said while two cases that tested positive in Kampala came from Mubende, the epicentre of the outbreak, there are contacts to the cases and a risk of infection.

"For Kampala city, while the two cases that tested positive came from Mubende district and are regarded as Mubende cases, because of the presence of contacts of these two cases and the risks of infection, I have directed a full mobilisation of Kampala city into a response mode," he added.

Museveni's latest update on the outbreak in the country comes after he instituted a 21-day lockdown and night curfew in Mubende and Kassanda districts on Saturday in an effort to contain the spread of the deadly disease, Xinhua news agency reported.

Of the two patients who tested positive in Kampala, one died, while the other one is under isolation.

The President last week warned that if the public does not heed medical advice, there is a possibility of Ebola erupting in Kampala. He said already 24 contacts are under quarantine.

"Several such alert cases have been tested and the results have turned out to be negative. The Ministry of Health teams will continue to investigate any such cases and inform the public accordingly," Museveni added.

According to government figures, as of October 15, the country has 58 confirmed cases of Ebola, 19 deaths, and 20 people have recovered since the index case was reported on September 20.