Related video: Concern in Uganda over rising Ebola infections 0:52
(CNN) --
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has declared an immediate three-week lockdown in two high-risk districts as the country grapples with a surge in Ebola virus infections.
All movement in and out of Mubende and Kassanda districts will be halted, Museveni said in a televised address on Saturday, although cargo trucks will be allowed in and out of the areas.
Curfews will also be imposed.
Places of worship, bars, gyms, saunas and other entertainment venues will close, but schools will remain open, he added.
"Given the seriousness of the problem and to prevent further spread and protect lives and livelihoods, the government is taking additional steps that require action from all of us," Museveni said.
The Ugandan Ministry of Health will also increase contact tracing and assistance to local health centers.
advertising
Uganda declares Ebola outbreak after one person died
Red Cross workers carry a body bag from inside a house of a suspected Ebola case on October 13, 2022 in Mubende, Uganda. (Luke Dray/Getty Images)
Ebola is a rare and deadly disease.
It spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and is not transmitted through airborne viral particles, says the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
There is no cure and there is no approved vaccine, although there is a concerted effort to create one.
Speaking at a press conference earlier this month, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said vaccines successfully used to curb recent Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo they are not effective against the type of Ebola virus now circulating in Uganda.
"However, several vaccines are in various stages of development against this virus, two of which could begin clinical trials in Uganda in the coming weeks, pending regulatory and ethical approvals from the Ugandan government," Tedros said.
Uganda has experienced four Ebola outbreaks.
The deadliest left more than 200 dead in 2000.
What is ebola?
Symptoms, treatments and outbreaks
A poster with Ebola prevention measures on October 14, 2022 in Mubende, Uganda. (Luke Dray/Getty Images)
Museveni declared an Ebola outbreak in September after a case of the relatively rare strain was confirmed from Sudan and cases began to rise in districts.
The latest outbreak has so far killed 29 people, while 63 cases have been recorded.
According to the CDC, a person infected with Ebola "is not contagious until symptoms appear, which include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal symptoms, and unexplained bleeding."
Uganda Ebola virus