Lumu Ivan
Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; and School of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2020 Jun;14(3):e46-e48. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2020.248. Epub 2020 Jul 15.
The prolongation of the Ebola epidemic may have allowed some countries to prepare and respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. In Uganda, the surveillance structure built for Ebola virus disease (EVD) has become a pillar in the COVID-19 response. This testing and tracing apparatus has limited disease spread to clusters with zero mortality compared with the neighboring East African countries. As more sub-Saharan countries implement social distancing to contain the outbreak, the interventions should be phased and balanced with health risk and socioeconomic situation. However, having a decision-making matrix would better guide the response team. These initial lessons from EVD-experienced Uganda may be helpful to other countries in the region.
埃博拉疫情的持续可能使一些国家有机会为应对冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫情做准备并做出响应。在乌干达，为埃博拉病毒病（EVD）建立的监测结构已成为应对COVID-19的支柱。与东非邻国相比，这种检测和追踪机制已将疾病传播限制在零死亡的聚集性疫情范围内。随着更多撒哈拉以南国家实施社交距离措施以控制疫情，干预措施应分阶段进行，并与健康风险和社会经济状况相平衡。然而，拥有一个决策矩阵将更好地指导应对团队。从有埃博拉疫情应对经验的乌干达获得的这些初步经验教训可能对该地区的其他国家有所帮助。
