A new Ebola alert has thrown the Mbale city’s Ebola response efforts into question.
A suspected case of Ebola emerged late Wednesday evening in Namakwekwe ward, but despite frantic calls to the designated emergency numbers, authorities failed to provide the needed support.
The patient, a female adult who had returned from the market, reportedly collapsed around 8 p.m. and began showing symptoms consistent with Ebola, including vomiting and diarrhea.
Concerned family members immediately reported to the Ebola Treatment Centre located a kilometer away from their home for medical response but they found the Askari who informed them that there was no ambulance and directed them to take the patient to Mbale Regional Referral Hospital”
When contacted, the surveillance officer Edward said “We don’t respond to Ebola at night.”
“We called the emergency hotline but we were told to either transport the patient to the Mbale Regional Referral Hospital or wait until the morning," a local authority who was called to save the situation said.
The Ministry of Health has issued clear guidelines stating that anyone showing Ebola symptoms should be handled by trained emergency responders immediately.
However, in this case, the family was left in limbo, ultimately choosing to keep the patient at home overnight out of fear of potential exposure.
The suspect was evacuated by the response team on Thursday morning.
In a city already on high alert after the recent Ebola outbreak, the untimely has sparked fears and confusion among family members and neighbors.
Dr. Atar Kagirita clarified that the Ebola response team does not work at night because of safety reasons. It is not done at night due to safety issues.
He also told this website that all health facilities in the region have been trained and prepared on how to handle Ebola suspects before referral to the Ebola treatment unit.
He added that Ebola suspects are not directly delivered to the unit to avoid the complicated protocols of retreating them in case they are found negative.