Missionaries in front line against Ebola.

Uganda--The deadly Ebola virus--characterised by high fever, muscle pain and massive haemorrhaging--is claiming lives among the Catholic missionaries who work in northern Uganda. St. Mary's Catholic Missionary Hospital in Lacor is one of two hospitals in the Gulu area spearheading the anti-Ebola campaign. The Lacor hospital was founded in 1961 by a Catholic husband-wife medical team--Dr. Lucille Teasdale of Montreal and Dr. Piero Cori of Italy. The Gulu Hospital is run by the Combonian missionaries.

Among those in the front line fighting the contagious disease are lay missionaries and priests, the majority from Italy. In the Gulu region there are at least 50 doctors, nurses and volunteers working to combat the virus, which in September alone killed at least 55 people. And recently, the disease took the life of a young Ugandan, Dr. Matthew Lukwiya, a Baptist (age 43) who had raised the alarm globally about the dreaded virus only weeks before. He was the 156th victim of the recent outbreak including Sister Pierina Asienzo and five other nursing staff. Dr. Lukwiya was hastily buried on the grounds of St. Mary's Hospital alongside his mentor, Dr. Teasdale, who had loved him as a son.

(With files from Zenit, Toronto Star, The Tablet).