Uganda's health ministry on Tuesday announced the country's first fatality from the highly contagious Ebola virus since 2019, declaring an outbreak in the central district of Mubende. 

"The confirmed case is a 24-year-old male ... (who) presented with EVD symptoms and later succumbed," the ministry said on Twitter, using an abbreviation for Ebola virus disease. 

In a statement released earlier on Tuesday, the World Health Organization said a 24-year-old man in Mubende had tested positive for "the relatively rare Sudan strain" of the virus.

"This follows an investigation by the National Rapid Response team of six suspicious deaths that have occurred in the district this month," WHO said. 

Eight other suspected patients were undergoing treatment, WHO said. 

"This is the first time in more than a decade that Uganda is recording the Ebola Sudan strain," WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti said.  "We are working closely with the national health authorities to investigate the source of this outbreak while supporting the efforts to quickly roll out effective control measures."