Ebola Virus Almost Gone in Uganda, Agency Says

KAMPALA, Uganda, FEB. 8, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The Ebola virus epidemic, which broke out last year and has killed 169 people, has been practically eliminated, according to the World Health Organization.

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WHO agents said an official announcement will be made Feb. 28, when a waiting period for health procedures is completed.

Among the victims of the virus were Pierina Asienzo and Dorothy Akweyo, two Ugandan nuns of the Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate, who were contaminated while they cared for the sick.

In the meantime, the areas scourged by the terrible virus are returning to normal. Father Cosimo De Iaco, Combonian missionary and parish priest of Holy Rosary in Gulu, told the Misna missionary agency (Misna) that schools are now in session and people are shaking hands again — something that was forbidden by health authorities when the epidemic was at its worst.

St. Mary of Lachor Hospital, run by the Combonian missionaries, played a decisive part in the struggle against the virus and in caring for the sick.

The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact from an infected person to a healthy one, including through sexual contact. The death rate is 60% to 88%.

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