Ebola-Like Virus Hits Kamwenge

TWO suspected cases of Marburg haemorrhagic fever, a virus similar to Ebola, have been reported in western Uganda, according to the Ministry of health.

"The Ministry of Health would like to inform the general public that two suspected cases of Marburg haemorrhagic fever have been reported, of whom one has died," a press release by the director general of health services, Dr. Sam Zaramba, said.

"Both cases were mine workers in Kitaka mine, located in Kakasi Forest Reserve in Kamwenge district."

Kamwenge is about 250km west of Kampala with a population of 295,000, according to the 2002 census.

"The first test was positive. We are waiting for the results of the confirmatory test, which we shall have at 9:00am tomorrow," Dr. Zaramba told The New Vision last night.

"But it is most probably the Marburg virus. We thought we should send out this information early enough."

Marburg, like Ebola, is a severe and highly fatal disease. It is characterised by sudden bleeding and high fever, resulting into death within a few days.

Transmission is through close contact with blood and other body fluids from patients with clinical signs of the illness. It can also be transmitted following exposure to contaminated items, such as bedding and clothing of patients.

The virus is named after Marburg, a city in Germany where the first outbreak occurred in 1967 among laboratory workers who had been doing research on monkeys which were imported from Uganda in order to prepare a polio vaccine.

"The Ministry of Health has set up a national task force that is tracing all potential contacts of the above cases for further investigations and tests," the statement added.

It advised people to report any suspicious cases to the nearest heath unit. The ministry asked the public not to panic "as no new cases have been reported in the last two weeks".

What is Marburg hemorrhagic fever?

Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a rare, severe type of hemorrhagic (internal bleeding) fever, which affects both humans and monkeys. Caused by a genetically unique animal-borne RNA virus of the 'filovirus' family, its recognition led to the creation of this virus family. The four species of Ebola virus are the only other known members of the filovirus family.

Where have cases occurred?

Marburg virus was first recognized in 1967, when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever occurred simultaneously in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt (Germany) and in Belgrade (Yugoslavia). A total of 37 people became ill. They included laboratory workers as well as several medical personnel and family members who had cared for them. The first people infected had been exposed to African green monkeys. In Marburg, the monkeys had been imported for research and to prepare a polio vaccine.

Recorded cases have appeared in only a few locations. While the 1967 outbreak occurred in Europe, the disease agent had arrived with imported monkeys from Uganda. No other case was recorded until 1975, when a traveler most likely exposed in Zimbabwe became ill in Johannesburg, South Africa - and passed the virus to his traveling companion and a nurse. 1980 saw two other cases: one in Western Kenya not far from the Ugandan source of the monkeys implicated in the 1967 outbreak.

This patient's attending physician in Nairobi became the second case. Another infection was recognized in 1987 when a young man who had traveled extensively in Kenya became ill and later died. In 1998, an outbreak occurred in Durba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cases were linked to individuals working in a gold mine. After the outbreak subsided, there were still some sporadic cases that occurred in the region.

Source:allafrica.com