By Zachery Onyango | Project Leader
Dear beloved supporter,
Community surveillance remains one of the most important tools for preventing infectious diseases from spreading unnoticed. Uganda's successful Ebola response demonstrated the value of identifying cases quickly, tracing contacts, communicating with communities, and acting before transmission becomes widespread.
Uganda has now completed its enhanced monitoring period after recording 20 confirmed Ebola cases, 18 recoveries and two deaths. The country's successful response provides valuable lessons for communities that remain at risk because of the ongoing Ebola emergency in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The DRC situation remains extremely serious. WHO's 28 August update reported 5,794 confirmed cases and 2,786 deaths as of 26 August. The outbreak has expanded to 60 health zones across six provinces. WHO also reported that 26,850 contacts required follow-up, with 22,091 seen during the preceding 24-hour period—an indication of the enormous scale of surveillance required.
Development Alert is continuing to strengthen community-based alert systems along Uganda's border communities. Community volunteers and local leaders are encouraged to communicate unusual health events promptly to appropriate health authorities. This creates an additional layer of vigilance between households and formal health systems.
Our outreach activities also focus on reducing fear and misinformation. Communities need practical information about when to seek assistance, where to report concerns, and how to cooperate with health workers. Trusted local voices can make a significant difference when misinformation threatens confidence in the response.
The field motorcycle remains an important component of this work. It enables our teams to move between remote communities, conduct follow-up activities, deliver educational materials, and support rapid preparedness activities.
The latest DRC figures remind us that surveillance systems must remain active even after an outbreak has ended in a neighboring country. Development Alert is committed to protecting Uganda's progress while strengthening the ability of border communities to identify and respond to future health threats.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
