Kitgum District - Hepatitis Epidemic

Hepatitis Epidemic

During late 2007 and early 2008, as many of the residents of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps started to return to their home areas, an outbreak of Hepatitis E engulfed the community and soon spread to the entire district. As of August 2008, a total of 8,157 cases had been identified. 62% of the cases were female, while 38% were male. The case fatality ratio was 1.52%. Seventy two percent (72%) of the fatalities were female. The epidemic has been traced to unsanitary sources of drinking water. By July 2009, the number of infected persons had increased to 10,243 of whom 162 had died; a case fatality ratio of 1.58%.