A recent outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus is “under control” but has not yet been fully eradicated, a Ugandan health official said yesterday.

Two suspicious cases were admitted to a hospital close to the scene of the outbreak over the weekend, bringing to nine the total number of people currently in isolation, the official said.

“We can now comfortably say that it is under control, but cannot say that we are absolutely finished with it,” Paul Kagwa, assistant commissioner at the Ugandan health ministry, said. The last confirmed case was on August 4.

Sixteen people have died since the latest outbreak started in early July in Uganda’s western Kibale district, some 200 kilometres from Kampala, and around 50 kilometres from the border with Democratic Republic of Congo. A total of 165 people living in the community remain under observation.

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