- Excerpt:
-
- Angola: Further Comment on the Unusual Age Distribution
of Cases
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- To extend on Dan Bausch's hypothesis of an iatrogenic
explanation for the unusual age distribution in the current Marburg hemorrhagic
fever outbreak [see ProMED-mail post: "Marburg hemorrhagic fever -
Angola (11): age distribution 20050331.0935]: In addition to in-hospital
transmission, the teams in the field may wish to investigate 2 other possibilities
for iatrogenic transmission: (1) invasive outreach activities like vaccination
and (2) traditional medical practices like scarification, provided they
target children.
-
- MARBURG HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - ANGOLA (12)
- ***************************************
- A ProMED-mail post
- http://www.promedmail.org
- ProMED-mail is a program of the
- International Society for Infectious Diseases
- http://www.isid.org
-
- [1]
- Date: Fri 1 Apr 2005
- Source: World Health Organisation (WHO), CSR, Disease
Outbreak News, Fri 1
- Apr 2005 [edited]
- http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_04_01/en/
-
- Angola: Marburg Virus Disease - WHO Update 5
- --------------------------------------------
- As of Thu 31 Mar 2005, 140 cases of Marburg virus disease
have been reported in Angola. Of these, 132 have been fatal. Cases continue
to be concentrated in Uige.
-
- Mobile surveillance teams in Uige continue to follow
up on rumours and conduct active searches for additional cases. Contact
tracing has also been intensified. These activities are now supported by
a mobile laboratory in Uige, which has greatly expedited diagnostic testing.
-
- WHO is working with the Ministry of Health in the Democratic
Republic of Congo to train local staff in the border area near Angola in
case detection and management.
-
- --
- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- ******
- [2]
- Angola: Marburg Disease Outbreak Is The Deadliest Ever
- 4-1-5
-
- (Reuters) --The outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever
in Angola has claimed 127 [now 132 -- see above] lives, the highest number
of fatalities ever recorded from the rare deadly disease, the World Health
Organization (WHO) said on Fri 1 Apr 2005.
-
- In a statement, the United Nations agency also said it
was sending more experts to Angola at the weekend, including a medical
anthropologist to teach about preventing the spread of the virus during
traditional burial practices. The WHO has deployed 20 experts to help combat
the viral hemorrhagic fever, characterized by headaches, nausea, vomiting
and bloody diarrhea. It is spread through close contact with bodily fluids
including saliva and perspiration.
-
- Since October there have been 132 cases of Marburg hemorrhagic
fever, causing 127 deaths, mainly in Angola's northern Uige province. A
15-year-old boy who died on 20 Mar 2005 is the only known victim in the
capital Luanda, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a briefing. "This
is the largest number of fatalities ever recorded during an outbreak of
this rare but extremely severe disease," the WHO said. The previous
record was 123 deaths among 149 cases during an epidemic from late 1998-2000
in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most victims were gold miners.
-
- The WHO is also sending a further 500 kilos (1100 lbs)
of protective equipment to protect hospital workers and other front-line
staff in Angola. "Marburg can be controlled if people are put in isolation
and their contacts are traced," Chaib said.
-
- Health officials were also tracing travelers rumored
to have been exposed to the disease in Angola, including 9 people now isolated
in hospital in Italy, according to the WHO spokeswoman. Tests on two travelers
who went from Angola to Portugal showed they did not have the disease,
she added.
-
- -- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- *****
- [3]
- Date: Fri 1 Apr 2005
-
- Suspected Marburg Fever Cases In Democratic Republic
Of Congo And Italy
-
- News24.com (South Africa)
- 4-1-5
-
- Italian hospital staff have put 9 patients in isolation
after they had been suspected of having contact with Marburg virus, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) stated on Fri 1 Apr 2005. A WHO spokesperson,
Fadela Chaib, said 2 other suspected cases had been reported in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), across the border from the north Angola area where
the outbreak began and has claimed 127 lives out of 132 cases.
-
- "9 people who were in contact with an ill person
have been isolated in an Italian hospital," Chaib said, without giving
details of in which town or the nationality the suspected fever patients.
Last week, an Italian paediatrician died of haemorrhagic fever in Angola,
according to Medici con Africa, the relief organisation for which she worked.
The WHO was unable to say whether the 9 patients in Italy had been in touch
with this woman.
-
- The death toll of 127 out of the 132 people who contracted
Marburg fever in an outbreak that started 6 months ago in the north of
Angola came from data released by the WHO on Fri 1 Apr 2005. Angolan authorities
on Thu 31 Mar 2005 officially put the toll from the virus at 126, the world's
highest, as Canada sent a mobile laboratory to help investigate suspected
cases. The epicentre of the outbreak is Angola's northern Uige province.
-
- http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/
0,,2-10-1462_1684040,00.html
- --
- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- ******
- [4]
- Date: Fri 1 Apr 2005
- From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
- Source: IOL online, SADC, Agence France Presse report,
Fri 1 Apr 2005 [edited]
-
- Angola: Marburg Virus Reaches a Fourth Province
- Kwanza Norte
-
- (AFP) -- Marburg virus has reached a 4th province in
Angola, bringing the nationwide toll from the Ebola-like disease to 130,
Angola's Health Ministry and the World Health Organisation said on Fri
1 Apr 2005. "By Thu 31 Mar 2005 a total of 137 cases, 130 of them
fatal, have been recorded," the joint commission monitoring the epidemic
said in a daily briefing document, adding that the virus had spread to
Kwanza Norte province east of the capital. The official death toll from
the disease had stood at 126 on Thursday, since the worst global outbreak
of the virus started 6 months ago.
-
- 3 more deaths have been recorded in the province surrounding
the capital Luanda, in Kwanza Norte province and in Uige -- the northern
province which has been worst hit by the virus. No details were available
about a 4th death. The case in Kwanza Norte was recorded in the town of
Camabatela, which lies 85km south of Uige and 300km east of the coastal
capital. The health ministry called on the population to help control the
epidemic by alerting the authorities of any deaths in the home. It also
urged people not to touch the bodies of the deceased and to keep the authorities
informed about individuals who may have been contact with the sick.
-
- A severe form of haemorrhagic fever akin to Ebola, Marburg
virus was first identified in 1967. It spreads on contact with the fluids
the body produces in reaction to it, such as blood, urine, excrement, vomit
and saliva. The Marburg outbreak has claimed a record number of lives,
overtaking the earlier peak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola's
neighbour.
-
- The WHO is to send medical reinforcements to Angola over
the weekend to help cope with the crisis. The commission tackling the Angolan
epidemic comprises WHO specialists, as well as experts from Medecins sans
Frontieres, and from the US-based Centers for Disease Control.
-
- http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_i
d=84&art_id=qw1112362021616B252
-
- --
- ProMED-mail
- promed@promedmail.org
-
- ******
- [5]
- Date: Fri 1 Apr 2005
- From: Matthias Borchert
- Matthias.Borchert@lshtm.ac.uk
-
- Angola: Further Comment on the Unusual Age Distribution
of Cases
-
- To extend on Dan Bausch's hypothesis of an iatrogenic
explanation for the unusual age distribution in the current Marburg hemorrhagic
fever outbreak [see ProMED-mail post: "Marburg hemorrhagic fever -
Angola (11): age distribution 20050331.0935]: In addition to in-hospital
transmission, the teams in the field may wish to investigate 2 other possibilities
for iatrogenic transmission: (1) invasive outreach activities like vaccination
and (2) traditional medical practices like scarification, provided they
target children.
- _____
-
- Matthias Borchert MD MSc
- Clinical Lecturer
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- ITD/IDEU
- Keppel Street, room 257
- London WC1E 7HT
- matthias.borchert@lshtm.ac.uk
-
- (In summary, the death toll in the current Marburg hemorrhagic
fever outbreak in Angola now exceeds that of the previous highest outbreak
total recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998-2000. As of
Thu 31 Mar 2005, there have been 9 fewer cases but 9 more deaths in Angola.
2 suspected cases have been reported from the adjacent Democratic Republic
of Congo and 9 suspected cases of unknown provenance hospitalised in Italy.
- Mod.CP)...mpp/cp/pg/mpp
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at: http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?
Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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