A wave of panic swept through Kampala yesterday following rumours that the highly contagious Swine flu or A(H1N1) influenza had killed two people in the city.
But the government, taking offence at the "malicious" news, rushed out assurances that the unsolicited short text message (SMS) being widely circulated to mobile phone holders by an anonymous author, is a hoax.
The matter also formed part of debate on the floor of Parliament yesterday after MPs said the text messages had thrown them into panic.
The anonymous text reads: "Ministry of Health warning; to avoid swine flu which is suspected to be already in Uganda, you are advised not to eat pork or be near pigs for the time being. The first case [of swine flu] reported in Ggaba and Nakulabye. Send this message to 25 people and MTN will reward you with airtime."
"This must be a funny and stupid person who is against pork trying to cause confusion," Mr Paul Kaggwa, the assistant commissioner for health education and promotion in the Ministry of Health, said last evening.
Bushenyi Woman MP Mary Karoro Okurut sounded alarm bells in Parliament as she inquired whether the texts had been issued by the Health Ministry."We want to know the truth because we know such information can throw the country into a stampede,"she said.
To allay the MPs’ fears, Health Minister Stephen Mallinga said: "We don't have any case reported in Uganda,"adding that in the event of an outbreak, "we are extremely prepared."
Earlier, Dr Nathan Kenya–Mugisha, the director for clinical services, said in a statement sent to media houses that “there has not been any case of A(HINI) (swine flu) detected in Uganda.”
Apart from the routine countrywide watch by the National Taskforce on Swine Flu, a special team of health workers has been stationed at the arrival lounge at Entebbe International Airport to screen persons entering Uganda.
Dr Mallinga said officials at Entebbe had confined four people with symptoms of the flu but medical observations and tests revealed "they were negative."
He did not state when the suspected cases were reported.
