Geography in the News: Ebola Cases Surge in Uganda

We all remember the devastation of the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa - the death toll and the impact on overall development as it ripped through Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, killing over 11,000 people. So it is naturally to be concerned when a new outbreak seems to be spreading - this time in Uganda.

The Ugandan health ministry says there have been 34 suspected cases, and believes 21 deaths were probably caused by the Ebola virus. The outbreak began in the central district of Mubende but has now spread to two neighbouring districts, so health teams are working hard to trace any people that may have come into contact with the disease.

This article from the BBC archive is excellent and reminds us what Ebola is and why it is so dangerous - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/wor...

Whereas this article was written yesterday, looking at the current situation, with a couple of interesting video clips too - https://www.aljazeera.com/news...

This latest strain is nowhere near as transmissible as previous outbreaks - which is very good news, however travel bans and restrictions have been imposed, which will cause harm to the local economy, and has the potential to wreak havoc across the whole of Uganda.

This story is a good update for anyone teaching inequality - we know that disease outbreaks have a big impact on the development gap, but particularly good for any of you who teacher a 'geography of disease' unit at KS3.