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2005-04-17 Africa: Subsaharan

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Posted by phil_b 2005-04-17 5:53:45 AM|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 IIRC, the last outbreak of the marburg type hemmoragic (sp?) fever, the spread was due in part to what was delicately referred to as "local funeral customs". When the "local funeral customs" stopped, so did the outbreak.

Posted by N Guard 2005-04-17 10:23:36 AM|| 2005-04-17 10:23:36 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 I remember, from The Coming Plague, this was true for Ebola. The custom was that the women of the family carefully washed and wrapped the corpse for burial. Then they went home and prepared meals for the family, etc.

Posted by .com 2005-04-17 10:57:31 AM|| 2005-04-17 10:57:31 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Funeral customs may well be playing a role in transmission, but such customs are unlikely to be restricted to the provincial capital. Person to person infectious diseases spread geographically and while there have been a couple of dozen cases in people who have travelled from the provincial capital, there have been no significant outbreaks from these cases.

There must be considerable numbers of people leaving Uige capital and going back to the bush, far more than the small numbers who can afford to travel to the capital and other places where cases have been reported, yet we are not hearing about outbreaks from the bush. Either becuase the don't exist which means a local factor in the capital, or they are not being reported becuase there is no government presence. Possible, although as time goes by less and less likely, and bad news becuase it means a lot more unreported cases.

Posted by phil_b 2005-04-17 2:48:03 PM|| 2005-04-17 2:48:03 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Um....it's so obvious, so I gotta use em....forgive me.

Virii, why do they hate us...?
and...

I for one welcome our new viral overlords...

Posted by Mark E. 2005-04-17 7:38:11 PM|| 2005-04-17 7:38:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 "Local Burial Customs" also spread a hellacious outbreak of shellfish borne cholera in West Africa in the 80s, according to National Geographic. .com's description is right on.

If the health officials ever get out into the bush they may find whole villages wiped out. Communications in the city are uneven, depending on the power supply; in the bush communications are tenuous at best.

Posted by mom 2005-04-17 10:58:25 PM|| 2005-04-17 10:58:25 PM|| Front Page Top

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