New Delhi: The deadly Ebola virus has broken out in Uganda, the government confirmed.
The African nation has reported 22 deaths and 101 suspected cases from the fever. Another 338 people are being monitored.
Many of the cases reported are of people who participated in the burials of those who died.
Ebola is a highly contagious viral disease which is transmitted through exchange of body fluids and even some types of skin and membrane contact.
The typical symptoms of the fever are massive blood loss.
Kenya has started to screen Ugandans on its western border, and Rwanda has set up clinics and isolation wards at border posts with Uganda.
The outbreak began on August 20, but the disease was not confirmed as Ebola until November 29.
The four-month delay between the start of the outbreak and confirmation of the disease has raised suspicions that the government covered it up so as not to scare delegates -- Britain's Queen Elizabeth and 53 heads of government – who met in Kampala two weeks ago for a Commonwealth summit, a claim which the government has denied.
The last Ebola outbreak in Uganda was in 2000, when 425 people caught it and more than half died.
With inputs from agencies
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