March 30, 2005
The death toll due to Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever virus in Angola has climbed to at least 117 persons with the highest-ever-reported Marburg virus case fatality rate of 95% (117/124 cases), according to an update on the outbreak by the WHO March 29. Reports on ProMed-mail cite over 120 fatalities and quote Angolan health officials as asking for assistance from the international community to control the Marburg outbreak.
To date all patients have been infected in the northern Uige province of Angola, although several of these patients have later been to other parts of Angola (Luanda and Cabinda). Two travelers from Angola to Portugal who were ill have tested negative for Marburg in the WHO Reference Lab in Hamburg, Germany. However, the potential for spread of this virus to other parts of Africa, particularly Angola’s neighbor to the north, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), or to other nations and continents via plane travel is clear.
A rapidly growing international response effort is underway in collaboration with Angolan public officials, the Ministry of Health, and health care workers. UNICEF is assisting with a social mobilization, communication, and education program working with 5,000 Scouts of Angola to disseminate information across the nation about Marburg virus. An interdisciplinary team from WHO is supporting the contact tracing and active surveillance efforts of the Angolan Ministry of Health.
Experts in Infectious Disease from England and South Africa are helping Angolan colleagues to organize infection control training in Luanda that will be available for health care workers from all provinces across the country. At the same time, in Uige province, infection control and isolation facilities are being optimized by Angolan officials and “Doctors Without Borders” based in multiple European nations. The US CDC laboratory confirmed the Marburg virus as the cause of death in at least 10 of the initial patients.
Daniel R. Lucey, MD, MPH