Uganda’s minister of health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, confirmed that an Ebola patient passed away on Wednesday morning after battling the illness for 17 days.
Ms. Nabisubi Margaret, an officer in charge of anesthesia, was admitted to Fort Portal Hospital (JMedic) in Western Uganda’s Fort Portal District.
“I regret to announce the passing of another Health worker, Ms. Nabisubi Margaret, an anesthetic officer,” Dr. Ocero wrote on Twitter.
The 58-year-old is the fourth healthcare professional to die. The first was a midwife from St. Florence Clinic, who was a likely case because she passed away before being tested, according to Ocero.
The second person to pass away on October 1 was Dr. Mohammed Ali, a Tanzanian studying in Uganda.
Ali was enrolled in Kampala International University’s Masters in Medicine in Surgery program.
Dr. Ocero claimed that the third person worked as a health assistant in the Kagadi District.
“May their souls rest in eternal peace,” Dr Ocero added in her condolence message.
President Yoweri Museveni has ruled out a lockdown to contain the highly contagious virus.
The death toll stands at 24 with five confirmed deaths, according to President Museveni during a press briefing last week.
Some 19 people classified as probable cases had also died, he added, explaining that they were buried before they could be tested for infection.
Ebola is an often-fatal viral haemorrhagic fever named after a river in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where it was discovered in 1976.
Human transmission is through body fluids, with the main symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.
Outbreaks are difficult to contain, especially in urban environments.
People who are infected do not become contagious until symptoms appear, which is after an incubation period of between two and 21 days.