The Ebola Outbreak: What Journalists Need to Know - ESAR RCCE Media Dialogue

According to the WHO, on 20 September 2022, Uganda health authorities declared an outbreak of Ebola disease, caused by Sudan virus, following laboratory confirmation of a patient from a village in central Uganda.

As of 25 September 2022, a cumulative number of 18 confirmed and 18 probable cases have been reported from Mubende, Kyegegwa and Kassanda districts in Uganda, including 23 deaths. This is the first Ebola disease outbreak caused by Sudan virus (SUDV) in Uganda since 2012.

WHO says the Sudan virus is severe and often fatal. It was first reported in southern Sudan in June 1976, and since then the virus has emerged six more times, four times in Uganda and three times in Sudan. The estimated case fatality ratios of SVD have varied from 41% to 100%.
To gain the latest information on the disease, and to get advice on how to deal with the stigma and rumours that are surrounding this latest Ebola outbreak, the ESAR RCCE Media Dialogue is featuring two speakers on different aspects of this health emergency. Dr. Otim Patrick Cossy Ramadan, Health Emergency Officer, Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Cluster, World Health Organization in Brazzaville, to explain the science of Ebola and the latest on spread and containment.

Dr. Michael Gubay of South Sudan will share his experience dealing with Ebola outbreaks and he’ll provide some guidance for journalists on how to avoid repeating false info, stereotypes, and stigmatizing of people based on the names given to Ebola strains.