Ebola crisis worsens as health officials fight misinformation

[00:00:00]We begin this half hour with the latest on the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Health officials say the deadly virus has killed more than 200 people since the outbreak began a little more than a month ago. The first cases were reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the outbreak has spread to Uganda, and that is where a CBS News foreign correspondent Remy and Osencio is tracking the response.

[00:00:22]>> We set out for Uganda's frontline in the world's newest war against Ebola. The capital's traffic of Kampala giving way over 6 hours to dusty red roads and the shimmering serenity of Lake Albert.

[00:00:34]The lying the terror just across its waters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where Ebola is raging.

[00:00:41]Here in Uganda, the line is holding, but there is still fear.

[00:00:48]Dr. Jasim Aldaif goes shelter to shelter through the Cherian Dongo refugee settlement camp, home to more than 160,000 refugees fleeing conflict, teaching families how to recognize Ebola.

[00:01:01]>> We were told about a boy with a fever of 104° Fahrenheit, body aches, and fatigue.

[00:01:07]>> Some of those symptoms are also for Ebola.

[00:01:11]>> How much of a concern is that?

[00:01:12]>> It is it's very concerning, actually.

[00:01:14]That's why I didn't touch anything.

[00:01:17]>> Down the road, Ebola educator Simon Opedo fights a different outbreak of myths.

[00:01:23]>> But they say it is witchcraft.

[00:01:26]>> He teaches that it spreads through blood and saliva, not evil spirits, but he's been set back by funding cuts from Washington more than 7,000 miles away.

[00:01:36]>> What would be your message to President Trump?

[00:01:39]>> Oh, Trump should release his act. I'll release the funding.

[00:01:44]>> Still, Uganda's sealed its checkpoints with the Congo. It's working. 19 confirmed cases, two deaths, no new infections since June 6th.

[00:01:53]But Uganda's director of public health admits the closed border alone can't hold. Roughly the length of Florida north to south and porous.

[00:02:02]>> It's like stopping wind from blowing.

[00:02:05]>> And it's not just the land that's porous, it's the water, too.

[00:02:09]>> Boats with asylum seekers usually sail after sunset. The problem is that there are only a few patrol boats to catch them before they land. Lake Albert is about the size of Utah's Great Salt Lake, making it very difficult to police these waters.

[00:02:25]>> We met one person who proved it can still be crossed. His name, James Peter, a week into quarantine.

[00:02:33]>> How did you come over from the Congo to here?

[00:02:37]>> He paid about $10 to a man he said to ferry him across, fleeing a war and now a virus at once.

[00:02:45]His future could be this.

[00:02:48]Today, nearly 200 more Congolese refugees were granted asylum, lining up for a meal and land to start over.

[00:02:55]>> Disease does not know borders.

[00:02:57]>> Leonard Musunguusi, a surveillance officer with the International Rescue Committee, has spent his career chasing outbreaks.

[00:03:03]>> Basically, a health concern is a global concern.

[00:03:06]>> Yes, it is a yes, that is true.

[00:03:08]>> Uganda has, for now, kept Ebola at its edge, but this is a country living on another edge, too, of anxiety. Just miles from an outbreak believed to be on track to be the worst in history.

[00:03:21]For CBS Saturday Morning, I'm Ramy Inocencio on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.