Doctors walk inside the Ebola isolation section of Mubende Regional Referral Hospital, in Mubende, Uganda, Sept 29, 2022. In this remote Ugandan community facing its first Ebola outbreak, testing trouble has added to the challenges with symptoms of the Sudan strain of Ebola now circulating being similar to malaria. (HAJARAH NALWADDA / AP)
KAMPALA – A Tanzanian doctor working in Uganda who contracted Ebola has died, the first health worker killed by the disease in the latest outbreak in the country, Uganda's health minister said on Saturday.
"I regret to announce that we have lost our first doctor, Dr Mohammed Ali, a Tanzanian national, 37-year-old Male," the health minister, Jane Ruth Aceng, tweeted.
READ MORE: Uganda declares Ebola outbreak after Sudan strain found
Uganda announced the outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever on Sept 20, triggering fears of a major health crisis in the country of 45 million people
She said Ali had tested positive for Ebola on Sept 26 and died while receiving treatment at a hospital in Fort Portal, a town about 300 kilometers west of the capital Kampala.
Authorities in the east African nation announced the outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever on Sept 20 triggering fears of a major health crisis in the country of 45 million people.
There is no vaccine for the Sudan strain of the disease behind the latest Uganda infections.
The health ministry said on Friday, before Ali's death, that the disease had so far infected 35 people and killed seven.
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Ali was among six health workers including doctors, an anesthesiologist and one medical student who have contracted the disease.
A medical attendant disinfects a woman's shoes before leaving the Ebola isolation section of Mubende Regional Referral Hospital, in Mubende, Uganda, Sept 29, 2022. (HAJARAH NALWADDA / AP)
Ebola mainly spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. The viral disease has symptoms including intense weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, and rashes among others.