Prompt Response to a Cross-border Plague Outbreak in Zombo District, Minimized Spread, Uganda, March 2019

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dc.contributor.authorGonahasa, Doreen Nsiimire
dc.contributor.authorBasuta, Bernadette Mirembe
dc.contributor.authorNabatanzi, Sandra
dc.contributor.authorKwesiga, Benon
dc.contributor.authorBulage, Lilian
dc.contributor.authorArio, Alex Riolexus
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-17T23:49:51Z
dc.date.available2025-05-17T23:49:51Z
dc.date.issued2022-04-27
dc.description.abstractPlague, which is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is a priority zoonotic disease targeted for elimination in Uganda. On 6 March 2019, the Uganda Ministry of Health was notified of a patient in Zombo District with clinical presentation similar to pneumonic plague, and a positive plague rapid diagnostic test (RDT). We determined the scope of the outbreak, determined the mode of transmission, and recommended evidence-based control and prevention measures. Methods: A suspected pneumonic plague case was one with two or more of the following signs and symptoms: cough (bloody or wet), chest pain, difficulty in breathing, or fever in a resident of Zombo District during February 1-March 31, 2019. A confirmed case was a suspected case testing positive for Yersinia pestis by rapid diagnostic test, culture or serology. We actively searched for case-patients, traced contacts and took samples as appropriate. We performed descriptive epidemiology of the outbreak. Results: We identified one suspected and one confirmed pneumonic plague case. On February 26, 2019, a 4-year-old boy was buried in DRC near the Uganda border after succumbing to bubonic plague. Case-patient A (35-year-old mother to the boy), fell ill with suspected pneumonic plague while attending to him. She was referred to a health facility in Uganda on February 28 but died on arrival. On March 4, Case-patient B (23-year-old sister to Case-patient A), presented with pneumonic plague symptoms to the same Uganda facility and tested plague-positive by RDT, culture, and serological tests. Contacts (n=114) were traced and given prophylaxis; no new cases were reported. Conclusion: This fatal plague outbreak started as bubonic and later manifested as pneumonic. There was cross-border spread from DRC to Uganda with no cross-border efforts at prevention and control. Person-to-person transmission appears to have occurred. The quick and effective response likely minimized spread.
dc.identifier.citationCITATION Doreen Nsiimire Gonahasa et al. Prompt Response to a Cross-border Plague Outbreak in Zombo District, Minimized Spread, Uganda, March 2019. J Interval Epidemiol Public Health. 2022 April; 5(2):6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37432/jieph.2022.5.2.54
dc.identifier.doi10.37432/jieph.2022.5.2.54
dc.identifier.issn2664-2824
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.37432/jieph.2022.5.2.54
dc.identifier.urihttps://nru.uncst.go.ug/handle/123456789/11663
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherAfrican Field Epidemiology Network
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health
dc.titlePrompt Response to a Cross-border Plague Outbreak in Zombo District, Minimized Spread, Uganda, March 2019
dc.typejournal-article
oaire.citation.issue2
oaire.citation.volume5
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