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Ugandan military joins fight against typhoid outbreak

Xinhua, March 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Ugandan military on Tuesday joined the fight against a typhoid outbreak in the capital Kampala that has killed two people and left hundreds of others hospitalized.

Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, the military spokesman told Xinhua by telephone that the military medical team joined the ministry of health and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) health workers in the treatment of typhoid patients at Kisenyi Health Center IV, the designated treatment center.

The center which registers at least 100 suspected cases daily has so far treated and attended to over 2,000 typhoid patients in the last one month when the outbreak was reported.

"We are concern of the increasing cases of typhoid. As per our responsibility, our medical team has joined hands and partnered with healthcare workers in the treatment, increasing awareness and sensitization of the public on how to control the disease," said Ankunda.

"Health is one of the key aspects of security which sustains social and economic transformation of our people. A sick population can't deliver," he added.

The ministry of health has in the last three weeks mounted an aggressive response against the typhoid outbreak in the capital Kampala and the neighboring districts of Wakiso and Mukono.

The ministry and KCCA have also engaged food vendors and juice sellers on better hygiene practices to prevent further spread of the disease. The public has been warned against drinking unboiled water, water parked in polythene papers, eating unwashed fruits and eating in unhygienic places.

Most people show symptoms of typhoid one to three weeks after exposure. The symptoms are fever, headaches, abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, poor appetite, lethargy and delirium. The disease is transmitted through eating food or drinking water that is contaminated with feces. Endi