
Sayyid Azim/AP A fresh grave in Uganda tells the silent tale of Ebola's return
| Local tradition in northern Uganda dictates that family and friends participate in a ritual cleansing of the dead before burial. But in the region's Gulu district, this customary act of mourning was a key moment in the resurgence and spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
Officials in Gulu can trace this incidence of the virus to the death of a housewife around Sept. 17. The woman's mother and three sisters, who had participated in the traditional ceremony, fell ill shortly thereafter. Other mourners, who had returned to their home villages following the funeral, also spread the virus to their family, friends and neighbors before dying from the disease, which can be transmitted with no more than a handshake.
Click here for TIME Europe's photo essay on Ebola's arrival in Uganda, the disease and its cause, as well as the 1995 Kikwit outbreak in the Congo.
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