Posted on 04/10/2005 8:52:43 PM PDT by Mother Abigail
Killer virus red alert as more die April 11, 2005
By Own Correspondents and Sapa-AFP
Pretoria/Uige:
South Africa has begun implementing precautions against the deadly Marburg haemorrhagic fever, which has claimed the lives of 193 of the 218 people infected in Angola in the worst outbreak of the disease yet.
South Africa's precautions follow a World Health Organisation (WHO) warning to countries neighbouring Angola that they should go on the alert.
The WHO said late last night that 360 people were being monitored in Angola, where the disease broke out in October.
A severe haemorrhagic fever akin to Ebola, the Marburg virus is spread through contact with body fluids, such as blood, urine, excrement, vomit and saliva.
It can, however, be contained by taking fairly simple health precautions, experts say.
Detailed life histories are being taken down and vigilance has been increased at all points of entry into South Africa. These measures are South Africa's first line of defence.
"There is concern about an outbreak in South Africa as there is a lot of travel between Angola and South Africa," said Lucille Blumberg, of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
Health officials say, however, that it would be too time-consuming and expensive to test everyone entering South Africa for the disease.
"We can't take blood from everyone," said Bonnie Maloba, a doctor.
"What we need to do is exclude people and the best way to do this is to take a detailed history." Top South African pathogen expert Adriano Duse has been asked to join the international team trying to contain and overcome the deadly virus.
Duse, the National Health Laboratory Service's (NHLS) chief specialist, has been contracted by WHO and the Global Alert and Response Network to join the multinational team working in Angola's Uige province - the epicentre of the outbreak.
Through the NHLS, South Africa's expertise has contributed to research and combating infectious diseases, including previous, smaller outbreaks of Marburg fever.
Duse said he had been selected for his expertise in infectious diseases and infection control.
"I will be joining an international team in Luanda and then we are in the hands of the WHO and UN to take us to where we are needed," he said.
The WHO has warned the Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and Zambia - all bordering Angola - to be on alert for outbreaks of the virus.
Epidemiologists in Uige are working overtime to trace new cases of the virus, which has sparked panic in Angola.
Every morning, teams from the WHO search the town of Uige for new cases.
"We visit our contacts and look for suspected cases," Francois Libama, a WHO epidemiologist, said.
"If we find a suspected case, we call in the special teams to remove the body."
At the WHO's temporary headquarters in the town, a blackboard gives a grim account of the latest death toll.
"Two corpses in Candombe Velho. Two corpses in Candombe-Novo. One alert in the Popular Quarter. One corpse at the cemetery," it reads.
FYI
Thanks Mom...
bttt
> ... Marburg virus is spread through contact with body
> fluids, such as blood, urine, excrement, vomit and saliva.
> It can, however, be contained by taking fairly simple
> health precautions, experts say.
This information may be outdated and fatally incorrect.
As I was pointing out on an earlier thread:
... even as of today, the CDC, at:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/marburg/qa.htm
is still telling people that Marburg:
* has a 5-10 day incubation
* is 23-25% fatal, and
* is not airborne, requiring direct contact with fluids
So they suppose an Ebola-like situation where symptoms
arrive fast, the infection is unlikely to be passed
until symptoms are evident, and moderate precautions
protect care providers.
Instead, we seem to have a 20-day virus, 99% fatal, and
possibly airborne. If so, it has massive pandemic
potential, and the official response to date, world-wide,
is suicidally inadequate.
Plus, we have another report of bodies being abandoned
in place in Angola, which means that animals will now
contract and spread the virus to all susceptible
biological populations.
Sure glad they're right on top of it!
and
We visit our contacts and look for suspected cases," Francois Libama, a WHO epidemiologist, said. "If we find a suspected case, we call in the special teams to remove the body."
me dumb. they look for suspected cases and when they find them, have the bodies removed?
That's quite a diagnostic team!
Ping.
More.
One day at a time.
Yup.
BM and BTTT
Thanks
Can animals carry it too (sorry I'm not up to date on this)?
Given today's near instant global travel one hopes more than SA are thinking about quarantines and/or travel restrictions.
Mother Abigail,
Is this a ping list for the Marburg virus, and if so, may I be on it?
Pretty please?
How did you arrive at airborne?
Hemorrhagic diseases seem to be endemic in Africa; they also seem to affect the less-mobile segments of society; why do you fear the potential for airborne transmission?
More bad news, it can be passed from person to person during incubation. Sweat is also infectious.
If it were easily spread, there would likely be over 18,000 cases in 6 months.
The real problem isn't so much the disease (except for those directly involved.) The problem is the lack of vector identification. Were the vector know, one could give advice about what to avoid.
In the hanta virus outbreak here in northern NM (land of the flea, home of the plague), within a week, the virus was identified, and the main transmission vector (breathing dried mouse urine) was noted. Now people take precautions and there are few cases. (Spraying a woodpile with a weak Chlorox solution isn't a bad idea; neither is washing barn floors, etc. with the same.)
Does anyone have a ping list for these Marburg / Infectious disease threads??
If so, I would love to be included.
Thanks
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