The World Health Organization has reported that 95 people in northern Angola, most of them young children, have recently died from an outbreak of a virus similar to Ebola. Called the Marburg virus, the culprit has an incubation period of between 3 and 9 days and it seems to be spreading. The number of reported cases have been increasing month-to-month, though WHO thinks that the statistics may be deceiving because the virus has been more closely watched lately.
Samples of the disease have been sent to a number of laboratories, including the United States Center for Disease Control. The labs confirmed the disease as Marburg. According to a WHO spokesperson, 75% of all deaths from Marburg have been children under the age of five. Nobody seems to know yet why children are at greater risk. WHO Spokesperson Fadela Chaib commented:
“It is why WHO has dispatched a team to the field and we will strengthen this team in order to try to find more what is the reservoir of this disease, why it is effecting mainly children and also to bring with them protective equipment to doctors, nurses, nurse barriers, etc. in order to avoid the more infection among health workers and people dealing with it,” she said.
…
“People should be treated with fluids and also with some antibiotics,” she said. “There is unfortunately no vaccine for this disease. People can die within a frame time of one week after the onset of the first symptoms. So, it is very important to monitor the situation and also to manage people in hospitals and health centers.”
The disease manifests itself through abdominal pain, high fever, nausea and vomiting, and can lead to death very quickly. The WHO has stated that the disease is rare, though highly communicable, and seems to be pinned down to a few countries in southern Africa.
Nathan Novak at 10:35 pm
