HEALTH-ANGOLA:
Marburg Virus Death Toll Continues to Rise
Mario de Queiroz
-Marburg haemorrhagic fever has claimed 126 lives in
Angola so far, but specialists fear this figure could rise dramatically in
coming days.
LISBON, Mar 30 (IPS) -
This was the conclusion reached by the Portuguese experts participating in
the fight to control the outbreak of the disease in the northern province of
Uige, in this southwestern African nation with a population of 12 million
and a total area of 1.4 million square kilometres.
According to a joint report from the Angolan Ministry of Health and the
World Health Organisation (WHO), a total of 124 cases of Marburg infection
were recorded between October and this past Monday, all in the province of
Uige, and only five of the people affected had survived.
On Wednesday, however, updated figures raised the total number of cases to
127 and the death toll to 126.
On Mar. 17, the Portuguese government began sending medical supplies to help
combat the outbreak of the devastating disease in its former colony, through
the Portuguese Institute for Development Assistance (IPAD) and the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with the Angolan authorities.
The supplies include fever-reducing drugs, disinfectants to treat the water,
disposable gloves, masks and bedding, and 300 body bags.
There are no vaccines or medications to prevent or cure Marburg haemorrhagic
fever, named after the German city where the virus that causes it was first
identified in 1967. The earliest known cases were caused by contact with
infected monkeys, which had been imported from Africa by a Marburg
laboratory for scientific research.
It is still unknown how the disease is passed from monkeys to humans, but it
can be spread from one person to another through bodily fluids like sweat,
saliva or semen.
"Considering the dimensions of this hemorrhagic fever epidemic, there are
plans for further aid shipments, in response to the requests of the Angolan
Ministry of Health," said a press release issued Wednesday by the Portuguese
Foreign Ministry, adding that this operation will continue for as long as
necessary.
In Luanda, the capital, the Angolan authorities reported that the efforts to
control the outbreak involve the Ministry of Health, IPAD, WHO, the U.S.
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Belgian, Dutch, French
and Spanish branches of the non-governmental organisation Médicins Sans
Frontières, among other agencies.
The measures adopted include the active epidemiological monitoring of all
people who have been in contact with Marburg fever patients, the training of
medical and laboratory staff, and the coordination of social mobilisation
activities, aimed at raising awareness on the disease in the community.
The treatment of patients is limited to keeping them in isolation,
controlling their fever, attempting to keep their kidneys functioning and
fighting haemorrhaging.
The Health Ministry/WHO joint report added that epidemiological surveillance
teams have been established to detect potential cases in Luanda and Cabinda.
It also states that anyone who has been in contact with Marburg victims or
the corpses of people who may have been infected with the virus should
undergo medical observation for at least 21 days - the disease's incubation
period.
The fear of a further spread of the virus has led the Angolan government to
advise people who have been in the province of Uige in the last two weeks
and suddenly develop a high fever or vomiting and diarrhoea to "seek
immediate assistance at the nearest health care facility." They have also
been asked to avoid travelling outside the country.
In Luanda, the Provincial Health Department announced Wednesday that it had
set up an early warning system to detect suspected cases. Six telephone
hotlines have been set up for calls from the public, as a means of gathering
information on new infections as quickly as possible.
The worst Marburg epidemic recorded until now was in the Democratic Republic
of Congo (formerly Zaire), where a total of 123 people died over the course
of two years, between late 1998 and 2000.
Marburg fever is a rare, severe hemorrhagic fever caused by a member of the
filovirus family, which also includes the four known species of the Ebola
virus.
The first symptoms are similar to those of other infectious diseases like
malaria, and include headache and muscle pains, high fever, nausea, vomiting
and diarrhoea. Haemorrhaging begins between five and seven days after the
onset of symptoms, and primarily affects the gastrointestinal tract and
lungs.
Although the fatality rate for the disease is generally estimated at 75 to
80 percent, the disease has killed almost everyone infected with it so far
in Angola.
Despite this bleak panorama, Angolan Health Minister Sebastiao Veloso said
Wednesday in a meeting with the foreign diplomatic corps in Luanda that
there is no need to impose a quarantine on Uige or to close the province's
border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(END/2005)
