Marburg virus outbreak in Angola claims over 300 lives

[Apoptosis]

The Marburg Virus:


The World Health Organization (WHO) announced this past week that an outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fever by way of Marburg virus in Angola has claimed the lives of 311 Angolans. The outburst can be traced back to October 2004 and is still going on. The great majority of cases have originated in the Uige Province, and WHO estimates that 75% of the cases have occurred in children under the age of 5 years old.

'Marburg virus disease has no vaccine or curative treatment, and can be rapidly fatal. In the present outbreak, most deaths have occurred between 3 to 7 days following the onset of symptoms. Past outbreaks indicate that close contact with bodily fluids of infected people, as may occur in health care settings or during burial practices, increases the risk of infection.'

This is the largest recoded outbreak of Marburg viral hemorrhagic fever in history.

Check out the growth rate chart:



Anyone with a background in Biology knows that this is only going to get worse unless it is contained. How many people knew that this was going on since October and growing every month? Now that the numbers are going into the hundreds we will see in the thousands here in a few weeks. Not good at all. A couple weeks ago 280 out of the 313 cases have resulted in death. (The current chart from a few days ago show nearly 345 cases, so almost a dozen new cases a day are coming forth) Doing some simple math shows a fatality rate of 90%! Marburg virus is no joke.

I found this data from an old paper from the CDC:

The natural reservoir for Marburg virus remains unknown, although it is presumed to be of zoonotic origin. Primary transmission of the virus from the natural reservoir appears to occur only in sub-Saharan Africa and is sometimes followed by secondary person-to-person transmission in both community and nosocomial settings (4–6,29). Because of the disease’s rarity and lethality, risk factors for transmission of Marburg virus have not been extensively investigated.

The CDC still has health warning posted on their site for those traveling to Angola, which means that this is an "Outbreak"!

[-mogwai]

with a virus that looks like a penis, you know you're screwed

[Apoptosis]

Some good news this weekend! A vaccine has shown promise for Marburg & Ebola viruses! Work on the vaccine began over 3 years ago and just now is showing results worth publishing.

The Good News:

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Canadian and U.S. scientists have developed vaccines that protect monkeys from the deadly Marburg and Ebola viruses and show promise for humans, a study published in Nature Medicine magazine said on Sunday.

The Bad News:

It will take five or six years to complete the research to show the experimental vaccines can be safe and effective for people exposed to the contagious viruses, which are almost always fatal, said Steven Jones, one of the Canadian-based scientists behind the study.

Eventually it seems that a vaccine will come out & that is good news for everyone

[Apoptosis]

Here is another recent update:

7 June 2005

As of 5 June, the Ministry of Health in Angola has reported 423 cases of Marburg haemorrhagic fever. Of these cases, 357 were fatal. The vast majority of cases have occurred in Uige Province, where 412 cases and 346 deaths have been reported.

The number of new cases being reported in Uige municipality has declined considerably, with only 1 new confirmed case detected in the past week. This case was a recognized contact who was under follow up. For comparison, during the peak of the outbreak, which occurred in late March and April, 30 to 40 new cases were being reported weekly.

Alerts to potential cases continue to be received and investigated, indicating that vigilance remains high.

Things were looking good, but the cases increased in Uige Province again. Only two weeks later it was shown that the spreading is not over as 10 more cases were found.

17 June 2005

As of 16 June, the Ministry of Health in Angola has reported a total of 422 cases and 356 deaths in Uige Province.

Twenty-one contacts are being followed in Uige municipality and 111 in other municipalities. Alerts to potential cases in difficult to reach locations outside of Uige municipality have been received and plans are underway for the team to travel by helicopter to investigate these cases.

Looking better, but not over yet!