(Bloomberg) -- Africa’s top health body called a meeting of regional health ministers next week to discuss an outbreak of an Ebola strain in Uganda that has no vaccine.
Officials will meet next week for talks on a regional approach to bringing the disease under control as quickly as possible, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director Ahmed Ogwell Ouma told reporters in an online briefing Thursday.
At least 30 people have died from Ebola in Uganda since the latest outbreak of the viral illness was detected on Sept. 20. Vaccines used successfully to curb a recent outbreak of the disease in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo aren’t effective against the Sudan strain of the virus currently prevalent in Uganda, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
“The Ebola virus disease is a risk as long as it has not been brought under control,” Ouma said. “We therefore need a regional approach to ensure that all our public health assets within the region are geared towards addressing the virus disease outbreak of the Sudan strain in Uganda.”
Read: New Ebola Vaccines Being Prepared for Trials in Uganda, WHO Says
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