A Rwandan soldier and a police officer cited on alert at No Man’s land area of Gatuna
Security authorities in Kisoro District have blocked Rwanda nationals from crossing into Katuna Town Council for petty businesses following an outbreak of Ebola n Uganda.
This comes a day after the Ministry of Health confirmed an outbreak of Ebola in Mubende district.
The latest outbreak follows six suspicious deaths in the district as well as eight suspected cases that are receiving care in a health facility.
According to the ministry, a sample taken from a 24-year-old man from Madudu Sub County was identified as the relatively rare Sudan strain of Ebola, a severe, and often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates.
The strain has a case fatality rate of between 41 and 100 per cent.
Authorities have since deployed heavily along the common borders to control the movement of people as one of the measures to contain the disease.
Although Rwandan nationals usually cross freely into Ugandan territory, today, they were blocked by military and police personnel and ordered to return to Rwanda.
Robert Katureebe, a money changer at Katuna border says that Rwandan soldiers were equally blocking locals from crossing to Uganda for shopping in Mukensiyoona market in Katuna Town Council.
But Katuna Town Council Chairman Elvis Nzeirwe Byoonanebye, says that the decision by Rwandan security authorities to block their nationals from crossing to Uganda can may suffocate business at the border.
Our reporter at Katuna border post reports that several soldiers and police officers are patrolling the border areas and that only persons with motorised transport are allowed to cross into Uganda.
This is the first time in more than a decade that the Sudan strain has been found in Uganda, which also saw an outbreak of the Zaire strain of Ebola virus in 2019.
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