Posted on 10/07/2008 1:40:25 AM PDT by Mother Abigail
Deadly virus not airborne
Mass hysteria is not necessary in this case
Disease transmitted via bodily fluids
THE deputy director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases has assured the public that there is no need to panic, despite the fact that four people have been killed by an unknown, highly contagious virus.
Doctor Lucille Blumberg, who also heads up the NICD's epidemiology unit and consults to its special pathogens unit, referred to the death of Cecilia van Deventer, 36, as an "isolated case" and said test results were not yet available.
But experts at the University of Stellenbosch believe the mystery virus is "most likely haemorrhagic fever".
A paramedic, Hannes Els, 33, who treated the critically ill Van Deventer in Zambia, and brought her to the Morningside Medi-Clinic in Sandton on September 12, died last Thursday after being infected with the highly contagious disease.
On Sunday a nurse and a cleaner, who had possibly been exposed to the disease, died.
Blumberg said: "The cause of death of the cleaner is still being investigated. We are busy conducting tests on all four deceased. The cleaner might not have been killed as a result of the virus.
"This is an isolated case. There have been no other reported cases in Lusaka, Zambia.
"We do not have an issue with people travelling there."
She said the Els family are being "closely monitored".
Dr Jantjei Taljaard, of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Stellenbosch, said the cases were most probably haemorrhagic fever. He said: "This is one of the most contagious viruses . It has an 80 percent or higher chance of being transmitted. Transmission occurs through bodily fluids, like being exposed to the person's blood."
The virus, he said, causes multiple organ failure.
"However, it is difficult to speculate and the families of the people who have died are being closely monitored by the health authorities. Mass hysteria is not necessary in this case."
Eileen Brannigan, Netcare's director for nursing, said yesterday that all Netcare units, specifically casualty departments, have been placed on high alert for any of the symptoms indicated by the deceased individuals.
The special pathogens unit of the NICD is primarily responsible for the diagnosis and investigation of biohazard Class 4 viruses. Class 4 viruses known or considered likely to occur in Africa include Marburg, Ebola, Rift Valley fever, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Lassa fever- related arenaviruses, and hantaviruses.
Marburg disease first appeared in Europe in 1967 in association with monkeys imported from Africa, and again in 1969 when the rodent-borne Lassa fever first appeared as a fatal disease affecting missionary nurses in West Africa.
In 1975, two young Australian tourists became sick in South Africa with what proved to be Marburg haemorrhagic fever after visiting Zimbabwe.
In 1996, 46-year-old theatre nurse Marilyn Lahana was infected by a Gabon doctor with the deadly Ebola virus. Lahana and the doctor died
About five or six cases of Congo fever are reported a year in the Northern Cape and Free State.
Medical and scientific personnel who dealt with the outbreaks of Marburg and Ebola are truly heroic.
Thanks Mother Abigail for the info.
You know what would be worse? Simple contact, with long duration.
There may have been one strain of ebola that became airborne, but IIRC, they burned out the village where it was discovered before it could get anywhere. Or before anyone could confirm it, for that matter.
The vaccines are still in testing, though they show promise. From Wikipedia:
A few research groups are working on drugs and vaccines to fight the virus. In 1998, a group at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) published the first peer reviewed article detailing the development of the first experimental Marburg virus vaccine demonstrated to completely protect animals from lethal Marburg virus infection[6] Following, in 2002, Genphar, a company doing research for the United States Army’s biodefense program, announced that an experimental vaccine protected animals from a high dose of Marburg virus. The tests were conducted by the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). According to the company, all animals in the control group died within days whereas all animals that received the regular dosage of the vaccine were fully protected. The company has moved on to non-human primate trials.[citation needed] Late in 2003, the US government awarded the company a contract worth $8.4 million for what was described as “a multivalent Ebola, Marburg filovirus vaccine program”.[citation needed]
In June 2005 scientists at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory announced that they had also developed vaccines for both Marburg and Ebola that showed significant promise in primate testing. Studies on mice also suggested that the vaccine might be an effective treatment for the disease if it is administered shortly after a patient is infected. To make the vaccines the scientists fused a surface protein from the viruses they hope to protect against onto an animal virus - vesicular stomatitis - which is thought to be of no threat to humans.[7] In the rhesus macaque monkey model of the disease, the vaccine is effective even when given after infection with the virus.[8]
***
As for the viruses... I’m not so sure that we wouldn’t be better served by relocating all the animals and people we care about and then nuking tropical Africa into glass as a health precaution.
Then how come I saw THIS on it's uniform???!?
Thanks, I have the flu right now. Guess I will go pray....
I appreciate the vaccine update. I still regard the filoviruses responsible for hemorrhagic fevers to be among the worst in the world, with the possible exception of an H5N1 that mutates to easily infect humans.
Bad stuff out there. After all the weaknesses in the system that SARS revealed, it’s miraculous we’ve been spared, in my opinion.
I wonder if all the zillions of AIDS cases (which, from what I’ve read, are questionable due to the way the Africans diagnose them) are actually these viruses.
They aren’t getting billions from us and attention from celebrities if they don’t call everything they catch AIDS.
Some other diseases can give a false positive on initial tests for HIV.
It’s all political, now. Sadly.
Another one.
Odd morphology. Not quit the route of transmission you would expect (ticks?).
Prayers up.
A good many of those AIDS cases are malnutrition or malaria. But that doesn’t get you billions of “AID” dollars.
Sad to say, there is no way to even estimate who is HIV positive, since you can have HIV and not have AIDS and vice versa.
LOL!
Only you could come up with such a post.
Now stop it!
Watch it mister! 8^)
I am not now, nor have I ever been, a deadly virus!
Never forget that the French wrote the inscription on the Statue! ;)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.