Ebola in Uganda

This item appears on page 18 of the March 2008 issue.

As of Jan. 3, 2008, 148 people had become ill and 37 people had died of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in western Uganda’s Bundibugyo district in an outbreak that may have begun as early as August 2007.

Ebola, a rare, serious viral disease, is spread through direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of infected persons. People who have close contact with a nonhuman primate infected with the virus are also at risk.