Uganda has confirmed an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the capital Kampala with the first confirmed patient dying from it on Wednesday, the health ministry said on Thursday.
It is the East African country's ninth outbreak since it recorded its first infection of the viral disease in 2000.
"The patient experienced multi-organ failure and succumbed to the illness at Mulago National Referral Hospital on Jan. 29. Post-mortem samples confirmed the Sudan Ebola Virus Disease (strain)," the ministry said in a statement.
Forty-four contacts of the deceased man have been listed for tracing, including 30 health workers, the ministry said. However, contact tracing could be challenging as Kampala, where the latest Ebola infection cropped up, is a crowded city of over 4 million people and a crossroads for traffic to South Sudan, Congo, Rwanda and other countries.