Ebola leads to cancelled friendly

Malawi were to host Uganda in Blantyre in a warm-up ahead of key qualifiers next month for both countries in the 2013 African Nations Cup preliminaries.

“We have cancelled the friendly on advice from the [Malawi] government following the escalation of the Ebola disease in Uganda,” a Football Association of Malawi statement said.

At least 16 people had died in an outbreak of the deadly virus in the western part of the Uganda, health officials said at the start of the month.

Uganda president Yoweri Museveni advised people to avoid shaking hands, casual sex and do-it-yourself burials to reduce the chance of contracting the hemorrhagic fever, for which there is no cure. It is transmitted by close contact and body fluids.