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Letter to the editor

American fights Ebola in Uganda

Scott Myhre also tries to protect himself.

KAMPALA, Uganda - For more than a week, Dr. Scott Myhre didn't wear a mask or other protective gear when treating the listless patients who were flocking to his hospital in western Uganda.

Only now does the American physician know the risk he took. The patients were suffering from a new strain of Ebola, a highly contagious disease that has already killed 22 people, including four health workers, among them a doctor Myhre counted as his best friend.

"I'm not in the clear yet, but I'm hopeful," Myhre told the Associated Press by telephone from Bundibugyo Hospital, which is at the epicenter of the outbreak. Myhre, who has lived in Uganda for 14 years, must wait 21 days from his last unprotected contact with an Ebola patient to be declared clear of the disease.

For now, Myhre, of Vienna, Va., is following the recommended precautions: gowns, gloves, goggles, masks and boots.

Ebola typically kills most of those it strikes through massive blood loss, and has no cure or treatment. It is spread through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person, or objects that have been contaminated with infected secretions.

On Friday, the Ministry of Health said there are 101 suspected cases of Ebola in Bundibugyo district and 22 victims have died.

Doctors and nurses did not at first know what they were facing, so failed to protect themselves. Experts say the Ebola subtype that sparked the outbreak is new and the classic Ebola symptoms were not always present, slowing diagnosis. The outbreak began on Aug. 20, but the disease was not confirmed as Ebola until Nov. 29.

Two teams, including infection control doctors from the World Health Organization and the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently arrived in Uganda to help contain the outbreak.

[Last modified December 8, 2007, 01:37:38]