Discouraging Central Ugandan News: Seven Contacts Of Contacts Fleeing Health Interviews As Ebola Cases Double.

The fear of a "knock on the door", from a public health worker. . . is not without a semi-rational (if historical) basis in Africa. Decades ago now, there were highly-unethical experiments on people of limited means, with new Western drug candidates, and even some "purges" under the guise of public health, by a few dictatorial regimes.

But those days have passed, and this developing Ebola outbreak is now in two provinces in central Uganda. . . and could become much worse, if substantial numbers of the known contacts refuse or evade vaccinations.

We will hold out a positive thought -- that common sense overtakes superstition soon among the people at high risk. Otherwise, we will see much more dying than in any of the recent DRC flare-ups (each of which ended with under ten deaths total). We are at double that, now in Mubende, Ugana (though I do suspect there was some intentional delay in reporting the first five cases, again out of fear -- by local authorities). So it may not be the rapid spread a four day doubling might imply -- that may just be a delayed first reporting. Here's the latest, from Bloomberg:

. . .An outbreak of Ebola in Uganda spread to two new districts as the death toll doubled from Friday.

Two new districts reported cases of the Ebola-Sudan strain of the viral hemorrhagic illness after it was first detected in the central Mubende district on Sept. 20. At least 34 people have contracted the disease and 21 have died, the Kampala-based Ministry of Health said on Twitter late Sunday. . . .

Daunting news, to be sure -- but we will await the night skies, and first images and video of a Colisium sized collision in deep space. Smile.

नमस्ते