<p>Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday imposed a lockdown on two districts at the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak, barring personal travel, ordering a night curfew and shuttering public places.</p>.<p>The health ministry says there have been 19 deaths and 58 confirmed cases of the often-fatal viral haemorrhagic fever since the outbreak was first reported on September 20.</p>.<p>Authorities say the outbreak is concentrated in the central districts of Mubende and Kassanda and has not reached Kampala, the capital of 1.5 million, despite a husband and wife testing positive there.</p>.<p>In a televised address, Museveni on Saturday ordered Mubende and Kassanda into immediate lockdown, imposing a dusk to dawn curfew, banning travel and closing markets, bars and churches for 21 days.</p>.<p>"I now direct as follows: movements now into and out of Mubende and Kassanda districts are now prohibited," said Museveni, a guerilla leader turned president who has ruled Uganda since 1986.</p>.<p>"If you are in Mubende and Kassanda districts, stay there for 21 days."</p>.<p>Cargo trucks will still be allowed to enter and leave the two areas, but all other transport -- personal or otherwise -- was suspended, he said.</p>.<p>Museveni had already ordered traditional healers to stop treating sick people in a bid to halt the spread of Ebola, and ordered police to arrest anyone suspected of having contracted the virus who refused to go into isolation.</p>.<p>Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, with common symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.</p>.<p>Outbreaks are difficult to contain, especially in urban environments.</p>.<p>Uganda's last recorded fatality from a previous Ebola outbreak was in 2019.</p>.<p>The particular strain now circulating in Uganda is known as the Sudan Ebola virus, for which there is currently no vaccine.</p>.<p>The World Health Organization says clinical trials could start within weeks on drugs to combat that strain.</p>
<p>Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday imposed a lockdown on two districts at the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak, barring personal travel, ordering a night curfew and shuttering public places.</p>.<p>The health ministry says there have been 19 deaths and 58 confirmed cases of the often-fatal viral haemorrhagic fever since the outbreak was first reported on September 20.</p>.<p>Authorities say the outbreak is concentrated in the central districts of Mubende and Kassanda and has not reached Kampala, the capital of 1.5 million, despite a husband and wife testing positive there.</p>.<p>In a televised address, Museveni on Saturday ordered Mubende and Kassanda into immediate lockdown, imposing a dusk to dawn curfew, banning travel and closing markets, bars and churches for 21 days.</p>.<p>"I now direct as follows: movements now into and out of Mubende and Kassanda districts are now prohibited," said Museveni, a guerilla leader turned president who has ruled Uganda since 1986.</p>.<p>"If you are in Mubende and Kassanda districts, stay there for 21 days."</p>.<p>Cargo trucks will still be allowed to enter and leave the two areas, but all other transport -- personal or otherwise -- was suspended, he said.</p>.<p>Museveni had already ordered traditional healers to stop treating sick people in a bid to halt the spread of Ebola, and ordered police to arrest anyone suspected of having contracted the virus who refused to go into isolation.</p>.<p>Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, with common symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.</p>.<p>Outbreaks are difficult to contain, especially in urban environments.</p>.<p>Uganda's last recorded fatality from a previous Ebola outbreak was in 2019.</p>.<p>The particular strain now circulating in Uganda is known as the Sudan Ebola virus, for which there is currently no vaccine.</p>.<p>The World Health Organization says clinical trials could start within weeks on drugs to combat that strain.</p>