Officials with the Uganda Ministry of Health have reported an outbreak of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in the central region of the country.

Map of Uganda/Alvaro1984 18
Map of Uganda/Alvaro1984 18

Eight cases, including two deaths have been reported from Nakaseke and Kiboga Districts as of Aug. 28.

The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, and CDC deployed a multi-disciplinary rapid response team to the two districts to conduct outbreak investigation and rapid risk assessment.

The epidemiology team is in the field to investigate the source of the outbreak and conduct contact tracing.

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CCHF is known to be endemic in Uganda, especially in the cattle corridor, which is a strip of land spanning across 18 districts, from the southwest to the north-east of the country. Smaller intermittent outbreaks have been reported in the past. The last outbreak occurred in August 2013, during which six cases were reported.

The simultaneous occurrence of the current outbreak in two neighboring districts may be indicative of a larger burden of the disease than expected. The current drought in some parts of the country could heighten the risk of the disease spreading to other areas as a result of livestock movement in search of pasture and water.

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