Investigations have looked at possible links between the disease and
everything from a parasite that causes river blindness, to malnutrition
and the after-effects of a civil war that ravaged northern Uganda for
decades.
"We looked at all this, but unfortunately we were not able to pinpoint
any significant contributing or risk factors," said Miriam Nanyunja,
disease control and prevention officer at the World Health Organisation
in Kampala.
"The search for the causative agent is still ongoing," she added.
Often the results have thrown up more questions than answers. Scientists
do not know if the disease is linked to similar outbreaks in
neighbouring South Sudan and Tanzania.
Efforts continue to understand if the disease is still spreading or has
peaked -- and why it is seems confined only to certain communities.
Last month, after pressure from lawmakers from affected areas, Uganda's
health ministry produced an emergency response plan to try to identify
and control the disease.
However, Nanyunja says that while the search for the cause and a
possible cure goes on, for now, doctors can only focus on trying to
alleviate the symptoms.
"There are many diseases that we continue to treat symptomatically,
without knowing the exact cause," Nanyunja said
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