Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.

Angola: Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever Claims Over 200 Lives
-------------------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=CDBFDC:2AB91D3

The World Health Organization calls it the worst outbreak of Marburg
ever recorded



Fatalities continue to rise in the outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic
fever in Uige Provence in Angola.  So far, the virus has claimed
more than 200 lives.

The World Health Organization calls it the worst outbreak of Marburg
ever recorded.  The virus has killed 90 percent of those
infected. Marburg and Ebola are from the same family of viruses. 
There is no known cure and early treatment provides the best chance of
recovery. At the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Dr. Anthony Fauci
is one of the world's leading authorities on infectious diseases. He
says the Marburg virus is spread by close contact with an infected
person.







Dr. Anthony Fauci"What actually can transmit it is when you get
exposed to the bodily secretions or excretions: urine, feces, vomitus,
what have you.  Certainly, theoretically, it could be a single
drop of of sweat, but that's extremely unlikely.  What we're
talking about family members or health care providers who are in there
taking care of the person as they are vomiting, having diarrhea,
bleeding from the mouth.  so you have to have very close contact
with the individual," says Anthony Fauci.

Some health workers in Angola wear protective gear to keep from
getting infected. The W-H-O is trying to improve early detection and
to quarantine people who are infected.  Earlier, the W-H-O's Dr.
Mike Ryan said health workers are having an impact on the virus,
although it is far from under control.







Dr. Mike Ryan"We are breaking the chain of transmission. 
However, this is a very complicated situation. Breaking the cycle of
transmission in hemorrhagic fever requires systematic contact tracing,
as many of you will have seen during SARS.  Doing this kind of
detailed day-to-day follow-up of hundreds of contacts in the context
of Angola is difficult," says Mike Ryan.

As with the outbreak of Ebola in Congo in 1998, normal burial rites
may have to be avoided. Dr. Ryan says for these efforts to succeed,
they have to get the community involved.

Although Marburg is highly infectious, Dr. Fauci says the virus is
unlikely to spread around the world like the SARS virus did by air
travelers.  He says anyone who could transmit the Marburg virus
would be too sick to board a plane.


.