Marburg outbreak
A ngola is in the grip of the worst recorded outbreak of the rare Marburg disease. By March 31, 2005, 130 people, three fourths of them children, had died and the country's four provinces affected. In the last known biggest Marburg outbreak, 123 people had died in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1998 and 2000. The current outbreak began in Angola's Uige province, bordering Congo. Uige has been receiving refugees returning home from Congo.
There is no vaccine or medication for the disease. It is treated by maintaining kidney function and electrolyte balance and preventing haemorrage and shock. The World Health Organization says the virus is animal-borne and spreads to humans and some other primates through direct contact with body fluids, respiratory secretions and organs of those infected.
Related Content
- Rare Marburg virus disease kills at least one on Uganda-Kenya border as WHO helps contain disease.
- Progress towards protection from highly lethal Ebola, Marburg viruses
- Human survivors of disease outbreaks caused by Ebola or Marburg viruses exhibit cross-reactive and long-lived antibody responses
- Single-dose attenuated Vesiculovax vaccines protect primates against Ebola Makona virus
- Safety and immunogenicity of Ebola virus and Marburg virus glycoprotein DNA vaccines assessed separately and concomitantly in healthy Ugandan adults: a phase 1b, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial
- Outbreak of Ebola-like Marburg fever kills man in Uganda