Marburg Virus Causes Acute Hemorrhagic Fever in Angola

Recombinomics Commentary
March 22, 2005

>> The Marburg disease, a severe form of haemorrhagic fever in the same family as Ebola, was first recognised in 1967 and is indigenous to Africa, affecting both humans and primates.

Angolan deputy health minister Joseph Van Dunem said results from 12 samples sent to the US Centres for Disease Control had detected the virus.

"We have received the results," Van Dunem told a news conference. "We are dealing with the Marburg virus." <<

The above result would appear to rule out bird flu, although it is unclear why Marburg would target children. It was originally isolated from lab workers who were infected by the Ebola-like virus carried by monkeys in their lab, include one in Marburg, Germany.

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/0...agic_Fever.html

We're looking at TWELVE confirmed cases. Angola is one of the armpits of Africa in terms of basic everything. Basic health levels are appalling & although I don't doubt many died before they hit frank bleeding stages it may also be that other infectious illnesses with similar early symptoms, (they're pretty generic symptoms), are also at play.

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Death toll from Ebola-like virus climbs to 98

March 24 2005 at 11:20AM

Luanda - The death toll from an outbreak in northern Angola of the Marburg virus, an Ebola-like bug, has risen to 98 after the death of two nurses, a health official said late on Wednesday.

Angolan health officials are battling to contain the outbreak detected in October in the northern Uige province that has claimed the lives of scores of children.

"Two nurses died Tuesday of the Marburg illness at the Uige provincial hospital," said Filomena Wilson, the spokesperson of a commission tasked with monitoring the outbreak.

A total of five nurses have died over the past weeks from the virus that is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids of infected people, according to Wilson.



The Marburg disease, a severe form of haemorrhagic fever in the same family as Ebola, was first identified in 1967, affecting simultaneously laboratory workers in Marburg, Germany and also in Frankfurt and Belgrade who had come into contact with infected monkeys from Uganda.

The largest outbreak on record occurred from late 1998 to 2000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 123 people.

The World Health Organisation said that 75 percent of the victims of the disease had been children under the age of five. - Sapa-AFP

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_...11652462727B252

Marburg Virus Kills Five Nurses in Angola

Recombinomics Commentary
March 24, 2005

>> "Two nurses died Tuesday of the Marburg illness at the Uige provincial hospital," said Filomena Wilson, the spokesperson of a commission tasked with monitoring the outbreak.

A total of five nurses have died over the past weeks from the virus that is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids of infected people, according to Wilson. <<

The explosion ion the number of Marburg deaths in Angola is clearly cause for concern. The number of emerging viral diseases is on the rise and the situation in Angola is a good example of infectious diseases quickly getting out of control. The dramatic rise in cases point to the need for close monitoring and swift action.

Cases of Ebola-like illness in Angola have been reported since October 24. 2004. Initial cases were predominantly children, but it is unclear if the clustering was related to exposures or prior immunity. Although the symptoms and associated high case fatality rate would make cases fairly obvious, a major effort to control the spread was not initiated until health care workers began to show symptoms. The death of 5 health care workers in the past week indicates that prior exposures in adults is not providing protection and either the virus has changed or it is now spreading into new areas.

The death toll has now grown to 98 with the vast majority of deaths in the past week or two. The outbreak may still be controllable because of a relatively long incubation period and clear clinical presentation.

The recent exponential growth however, raises serious monitoring issues for other infections diseases such as pandemic influenza. The bird flu cases in southeast Asia are not being carefully monitored. There is a large number of suspect cases in central Vietnam and new deaths in the south or adjacent Cambodia. Although confirmed human to human transmissions appear to be inefficient, lack of testing and reporting has clouded the picture and the locations of H5N1 in people is far from clear.

A quick response to pandemic influenza is important because the incubation time is short and highly efficient transmission is possible.

The rapid increase in Marburg cases in recent days is a clear warning that failure to effectively monitor potential pandemic flu can have catastrophic consequences.

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/0...ola_Nurses.html

So slate wiper is back....

Here's a random quote:

"In august 1997 three factory workers in Marburg Germany reported in sick suffering from muscle aches and mild fevers. The three were employed at Behringwerk AG, the vaccine prodcing subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Hoecht AG and had been handling monkeys. The following day the three became nauseated, their spleens enlarged and were tender to the touch, their eyes became increasingly bloodshot. Day by day more workers fell ill, there was much pain. Red rashes broke out, throats became raw, capillaries ruptured, nerves shrieked due to lack of oxygen. Skin died and blood was vomited, skin peeled from genitals, blood coagulated and overworked hearts gave out. The Marburg virus had arrived in Europe."

Marburg virus disease in Angola, 102 cases identified so far

24 Mar 2005
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Laboratory tests have identified Marburg virus as the causative agent in an outbreak of suspected viral haemorrhagic fever in Angola. Virus was detected 21 March in samples from nine of twelve fatal cases.

Retrospective analysis has now identified 102 cases in the outbreak, which dates back to October 2004. Of these cases, 95 have been fatal.

Most cases are presently concentrated in Uige Province in the northern part of the country (See map).

Since the start of the outbreak, the monthly number of cases has progressively increased, but this increase could be the result of intensified surveillance. Around 75% of cases have occurred in children under the age of 5 years. Cases in adults include a small number of health care workers.

Marburg virus disease has no vaccine or curative treatment, and can be rapidly fatal. In the present outbreak, most deaths have occurred between 3 to 7 days following the onset of symptoms.

Past outbreaks indicate that close contact with bodily fluids of infected people, as may occur in health care settings or during burial practices, increases the risk of infection.

WHO is supporting efforts by the Ministry of Health in Angola to strengthen infection control in hospitals, to intensify case detection and contact tracing, and to improve public understanding of the disease and its modes of transmission.

Background

Marburg virus disease is an acute febrile illness accompanied by severe haemorrhagic manifestations. The disease has an incubation period of 3 to 9 days. In the earliest stage of infection, symptoms are non-specific and may be easily confused with more common diseases, including malaria, yellow fever, and typhoid fever. A severe watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting are early symptoms, as are severe chest and lung pains, sore throat, and cough. A high proportion of cases develop severe haemorrhagic manifestations between days 5 and 7, most frequently affecting the gastrointestinal tract and the lungs. A characteristic rash usually appears at this time, sometimes involving the whole body.

The disease was first identified in 1967 during simultaneous outbreaks affecting laboratory workers in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The outbreaks, which involved 31 cases and seven deaths, were subsequently linked to contact with infected monkeys imported from Uganda.

The virus then disappeared until February 1975, when an acutely ill man with a recent travel history to Zimbabwe was admitted to a hospital in South Africa. Infection spread from the man to his travelling companion and a nurse at the hospital. The man died, but the other two cases recovered.

In 1980, two cases, one of which was fatal, occurred in Kenya. In 1987, an additional single case, which was fatal, occurred in Kenya.

The largest outbreak on record, which occurred from late 1998 to late 2000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, involved 149 cases, of which 123 were fatal. The outbreak was initially concentrated in workers at a gold mine in Durba.

Marburg virus disease occurs very rarely and appears to be geographically confined to a small number of countries in the southern part of the African continent. When cases do occur, the disease has epidemic potential, as it can spread from person to person, most often during the care of patients. For this reason, strict measures for infection control need to be applied during the management of cases. Containment of an outbreak of Marburg virus disease also requires the rapid tracing and isolation of contacts. Health education is needed to inform communities of the risks associated with traditional burial practices.

Despite intensive investigations extending over several years, research has failed to find an animal reservoir of the virus or determine where it hides in nature between outbreaks.

WHO - CLICK HERE and then scroll down to see map.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/med...hp?newsid=21762

Death toll from killer virus in Angola rises to 114

Death toll from killer virus in Angola rises to 114
Fri March 25, 2005 3:56 PM GMT+02:00

By Zoe Eisenstein

LUANDA (Reuters) - A total of 114 people in Angola, including an Italian doctor, have died in a rare Marburg epidemic, and health officials said on Friday they feared the deadly virus could spread to Luanda.

Two people -- including the doctor who had been in direct contact with Marburg patients -- had died in Luanda after coming to the capital from northern Uige province to receive treatment, Filomeno Fortes, department head for disease control at the health ministry told Reuters.

A further four people in Luanda were also suspected of being infected with the killer hemorrhagic fever, which is in the same family as Ebola and for which there is no specific cure, but Fortes said all six cases in the capital had come in from Uige.

"Of the six cases we've had in Luanda, we've had two deaths until now. All six came from Uige. None of these represents a primary case from Luanda," Fortes said.

"Our fear is that if we don't control cases coming from Uige, there is a risk that they could infect people in Luanda," he added.

The health ministry had sent mobile teams across Luanda to test suspect cases and to check up on people who had been in contact with identified cases, with hospital chiefs also putting in place preparatory measures in case of a local outbreak.

Health ministry spokesman Carlos Alberto, speaking to Reuters by phone from Uige, confirmed 112 people in the province about 225 km (140 miles) north of Luanda had died from Marburg but said the death toll could be even higher.

"We've only registered cases dealt with in hospitals but it's possible people have also died in their homes without coming to hospital," Alberto said.

With a health infrastructure shattered by decades of civil war, Angola is facing a monumental challenge in trying to combat the virus. The first case was detected late last year, and so far most of the victims have been children.

"We've already had some help from the international community but more help would be welcome. We need cleaning materials, medicines, protective clothing, that kind of thing," Alberto said.

The Marburg virus is characterised by high fever, headaches, nausea, with vomiting and diarrhoea accompanied by blood.

http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_...storyID=8003862

Marburg Virus Outbreak Spreads to Angolan Capital
By Challiss McDonough
Johannesburg
25 March 2005




In Angola, a deadly outbreak of a rare hemorrhagic fever has spread to the capital, Luanda. The Marburg virus epidemic first erupted in the north of the country and has already killed at least 113 people.

The provincial health director in the Angolan capital says two people have died of Marburg virus in Luanda, including an Italian doctor who had been treating Marburg-infected patients in the northern province of Uige, where the epidemic first emerged.

Health officials say at least three other cases of the deadly virus have been diagnosed in the capital, all in people who traveled to Luanda from Uige. So far, nobody is known to have contracted the disease in the capital. But authorities fear that it could spread in the densely populated city if they cannot control the outbreak where it originated.

The rare hemorrhagic fever first appeared late last year in Uige, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo. The World Health Organization says about three-quarters of the victims have been children under the age of five.

At first, it was not clear what disease was behind the epidemic. But the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control identified it as Marburg virus this week.

Marburg virus is in the same family as the deadly Ebola virus. Like Ebola, its early symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Within a few days, the disease progresses to internal bleeding and sometimes bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth. There is no known cure or treatment.

Angolan health officials are working with specialists from the World Health Organization and the international charity Doctors Without Borders to contain the virus in Uige and control any possible spread in the capital.

Health officials are warning residents to take precautions when dealing with anyone who might be infected with Marburg virus, and especially to avoid contact with their bodily fluids, which are highly infectious.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005...enderforprint=1

Concern as virus similar to Ebola spreads in Angola
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http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=956dce000eeaf4d9

Big News Network.com Sunday 27th March, 2005

Angola is struggling with a deadly outbreak of a virus similar to Ebola.

People have been warned not to travel to the country.

The Marburg virus first broke out in the northern Uige province in October and has killed 121 people so far. The virus causes fever, vomiting and bleeding.

The Angola health minister said the situation was 'critical.' Besides those dead a similar number are in hospital being treated for the disease.

A WHO outbreak response team, including experts from the Inter-country programme for southern Africa, the Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) and from WHO Headquarters are working with the Ministry of Health to rapidly provide technical support, contact tracing and surveillance, infection control, and are rushing to raise awareness of the disease in the community.

Angola, a country of 11 million peole, is less than the size of Texas. It is located in Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The death ate is appalling - if it's accurate.

Either we're dealing with a far more lethal strain or cases are being severely under reported.

__________________
Bunnies love me, this I know
'Cause Arubi tells me so.