Ugandan public health experts are investigating a disease that
has killed at least five African Union peacekeepers in Somalia
and infected another 50, who have been evacuated to a Kenyan
hospital, officials said. "Our head of public health, Lt-Col Sam
Kasule, is in Mogadishu [the Somali capital] to investigate and
we are waiting for his report to find a proper response to the
outbreak," Col Felix Kulaigye, spokesman for the Ugandan army,
told IRIN on 30 July. Uganda and Burundi have contributed a
total of 4,300 troops to the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM),
with the majority (2,700) Ugandan. The symptoms include chest
pain, fever, headache, swelling of the lower limbs, rapid heart-
beat and respiratory problems. “The ailment first hit the
Burundian contingent... [several] were flown to Nairobi for
treatment," Kulaigye said. "It eventually hit our camp and has
since killed two, while 17 are in intensive care in Nairobi." He
said preliminary reports pointed to an outbreak of
Leptospirosis, a bacterial disease cau