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| Africa: Subsaharan |
| Marburg Virus Spreads to Cabinda Angola as Death Toll Rises |
| 2005-03-27 |
| A health ministry official said a pregnant woman died of the Marburg virus in a hospital in the northern province of Cabinda on Saturday, the first fatality outside the capital Luanda and the province of Uige, bringing the nationwide death toll to 120 in less than six months. "I can confirm that today (Saturday), a woman died in the hospital in Cabinda from heamorraghic Marburg fever," Filomeno Forte, the head of the health ministry's epidemiology department, told AFP. "This woman came from Uige, where there had been a death in the family from Marburg. She did not disclose the information when she arrived in Cabinda," located about 500 kilometers (300 miles) west of Uige and 300 kilometers north of Luanda. "It is the first and only case of Marburg in Cabinda," said Forte. The Marburg virus continues to spread from Uige via visitors, doctors, and patients. Although there have been no recorded transmissions outside of Uige, the explosion in the number of cases, coupled with infections of health care workers, is cause for concern. There are now eight fatalities among health care workers and a ninth is infected. Three nurses died about a week ago, followed by two more nurses on Tuesday. An Italian pediatrician died on Thursday, followed by a Vietnamese physician on Friday. A sixth nurse died on Saturday and an Angolan physician is infected. Basic barriers such as gowns, gloves, and masks are lacking, facilitating the spread of the virus. There have been three deaths in Luanda, and at least two more infected patients in the capital. The death in Cabinda brings the number of geographical regions with infections up to three, and the death toll is up to 120. The explosion in the number of cases in the past 1-2 weeks will certainly lead to a record number of fatalities for an Ebola-like outbreak. The incubation period of 3-9 days suggests additional cases will develop in the next 1-2 weeks. This appears to be the largest outbreak ever identified of Marburg. One particularly scary aspect of this disease is that infection does not result in immunity. Even if you have been infected you are just as succeptible to future infection as anybody else and this seems to rule out a vaccine. |
| Posted by:phil_b |
| #4 Dr Niman thinks the fatality rate may be over 90%. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-03-27 5:09:11 PM |
| #3 And we were very lucky that Ebola Reston wasn't pathogenic in humans. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2005-03-27 12:04:58 PM |
| #2 And if you think this will never spread in developed countries, then think again. It is called Marburg becuase it was first identified in Marburg Germany after an outbreak originating from monkeys killed about 10 people. Like most viruses it just needs to step up not to much in its infectiousness and this is a pandemic killer. Signs are it may have made that step up. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-03-27 4:47:10 AM |
| #1 Filomeno Forte? Marburg, along with the 3 varieties of Ebola that cause disease in humans, are the only members of the filovirus family. What an unfortunate name. About the only "good" thing about Marburg I'm aware of is that it's "only" between 1/2 and 1/3 as fatal as its close cousin, Ebola Zaire - about 25% fatal vs 70%+. Marburg, like Ebola, is totally mysterious regards specific origin - host and geographic locale, why some die and others do not, etc. CDC Marburg page. Very bad juju. Thx, phil_b - good story, bro. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-03-27 3:00:08 AM |