Document is current

Article History

Received: 31 August 2025

Accepted: 6 May 2026

First Online: 22 May 2026

Declarations

:

: This outbreak investigation was conducted in response to a public health emergency by the National Rapid Response Team and was therefore determined to be non-research. The Ministry of Health (MoH) gave permission to investigate this outbreak. In agreement with the International Guidelines for Ethical Review of Epidemiological Studies by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (1991) and the Office of the Associate Director of Science, US CDC/Uganda, it was determined that this activity was not human subject research and its primary intent was public health practice or disease control activity. The investigation was reviewed by the US CDC and conducted in accordance to the applicable federal law and CDC policy. § §See e.g., 45 C.F.R. part 46, 21 C.F.R. part 56; 42 U.S.C. § 241(d); 5 U.S.C. § 552a; 44 U.S.C. § 3501 et seq. All experimental protocols were approved by the US CDC human subjects review board (The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Institutional Review Board) and the Uganda Ministry of Health and were performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. We sought permission to conduct the investigation from the District health authorities of Terego District. We sought verbal informed consent from all adult respondents. For minors, verbal assent was obtained from the child where applicable, in addition to verbal informed consent from their parents or caretakers. Verbal consent was utilized because the investigation presented no more than minimal risk of harm and involved no procedures for which written consent is normally required. We informed the respondents that their participation was voluntary and their refusal to participate would not have any negative consequences regarding receiving adequate healthcare from any of the health facilities in the district. They were also informed that all identifiable information such as name, address, phone contact, etc. would be removed before data sharing and analysis.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.