Africa’s top public health body said on Thursday that the Ebola outbreak in Uganda was "not getting out of hand" and that it was still under control, despite an increase in cases that have spread to the capital Kampala.

"The Ebola outbreak in Uganda is not getting out of hand ... it is still under control," Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, acting director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said at an online briefing.

Ouma also said that at the moment it was not possible to give any projections for the future spread of the disease.

The virus circulating in Uganda is the Sudan strain of Ebola, for which there is no proven vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain seen during recent outbreaks in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Aceng said her ministry would be evaluating the efficacy of three candidate Ebola Sudan vaccines in the coming weeks, one developed by Oxford University, one made by the Sabin Vaccine Institute in the United States and another by U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co (MRK.N).

"The main objective is to evaluate their efficacy to protect primary contacts of Ebola patients within 29 days of contact," Aceng said.

"We estimate that we may begin the trial in two weeks time."

AE News