Health assistant Nyangoma Kirrungi, who works as a contact tracer in Madudu sub-county, one of the outbreak’s affected areas, has been on the front lines of the nation’s response since an Ebola outbreak was declared in Uganda on September 20. Around 300 contact tracers, including Kirrungi, have been trained and deployed by the Ugandan Ministry of Health with assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners as Uganda fights Ebola. These individuals are essential to the nation’s efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

Groundwork

As a member of the surveillance team, Kirrungi follows up on 40 contacts on average each day. She says, “I have a close relationship with the investigation unit. “Once they record a confirmed case of Ebola, my team and I go to the field to check in with the patient’s contacts to make sure they aren’t showing any symptoms. Then, we stay vigilant to spot and report any symptoms that do appear.”

Contact tracing is essential for putting an end to the outbreak, according to Dr. Bernard Logouomo, the Ministry of Health Surveillance Team Lead in Mubende District, another area of the country affected by Ebola. It is simpler to contain the disease, he claims, when the neighborhood works together to respond and contacts are found.

Disease surveillance

A questionnaire used by contact tracers is intended to determine whether a contact has Ebola symptoms. Each contact tracer collaborates with a maximum of 10 volunteer village health workers who have received disease surveillance training. Village health teams, which are assembled by locals, assist first responders in developing trust and overcoming their fears.

Two hotlines were established for communities to report suspected cases in addition to the use of contact tracers. A set of inquiries is used by investigators to determine whether an ambulance or clinical officer should be dispatched. Once a case has been identified, a case investigation team compiles a list of potential contacts based on the patient’s likely infection site and potential contacts afterward.

Village team’s activity

Village health teams take over to keep an eye on contacts for symptoms for the full 21 days of the Ebola incubation period after contacts have been identified and screened. Beyond playing a crucial supporting role, these teams are a tremendous help in educating people in their communities about the disease. With assistance from the WHO and other partners, the Ministry of Health has trained more than 1200 members of village health teams since the epidemic began.

Contact tracing quickly improved, with only 25% of contacts being followed up daily in the early days of the outbreak. Nearly 94% of the 552 contacts had been seen and tracked daily for 21 days by mid-October.

More than eight years ago, Lydia Nasamba, a market vendor and resident of Madudu, has been a part of the community health team. Every day at 3 p.m., she visits the sub-county community radio station to spread knowledge about Ebola’s symptoms, preventative measures, and reporting procedures. I then pay a visit to the contacts I’ve made in my neighborhood to see how they’re doing.

Challenges faced as Uganda Fights Ebola

While the assistance of individuals like Kirrungi and Nasamba is an essential part of Uganda’s response as Uganda Fights the Ebola virus, they encounter many difficulties on a daily basis, such as a lack of personal protective equipment and dependable transportation. People’s livelihoods are at risk because contact tracers frequently deal with community members’ anxiety about being stigmatized or excluded in a medical facility. Additionally, contacts may not be at home when contact tracers visit them, making it challenging to regularly check in on them.

With funding from the Norwegian government and the United States Agency for International Development, WHO has redeployed 108 technical staff members to help with case management, risk communication, community engagement, and laboratory testing. They have also given the Mubende Regional Hospital four Ebola kits.

Nothing will stop Kirrungi from completing the task at hand once she is back in Madudu. “I feel like I am saving lives now that I am involved in the Ebola response. I’ve discovered that the disease will go away if all contacts are found and treated,” she says. That is what spurs me every day.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the Ugandan office of the World Health Organization.

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