Experts from the US Centers for Disease Control are being dispatched to Angola to assist the Ministry of Health and an international team already at work in the country in their effort to stop the deadly Marburg virus.

The CDC is deploying an emergency response team consisting of experts in viral hemorrhagic fevers to the affected region imminently. CDC also has shipped preventive gear and supplies to officials in Angola.

International Aid Mobilized

As of Tuesday, the Angola Ministry of Health had reported a total of 124 cases and 117 deaths in Cabinda, Luanda and Uige, according to WHO. All of those cases originated in Uige Province. Ten were laboratory-confirmed by CDC.

A team sent to Angola by WHO, including experts from the Inter-country program for southern Africa, the Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) and from Headquarters, as well as partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), have been helping Angola's Ministry of Health to strengthen active surveillance and contact tracing.

Médecins sans Frontières (Belgium, France, Holland and Spain) are assisting with infection control and establishing isolation facilities in Uige hospital.

Experts from the Department of Infectious Diseases, Manchester, United Kingdom, and Johannesburg Hospital, South Africa, are providing assistance in infection control in Luanda, where training will be provided for health care staff from all provinces in the country.

The Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory will be setting up a mobile laboratory in Uige, and CDC will be providing laboratory support in Luanda. UNICEF is carrying out social mobilization activities, raising awareness of the disease in the community and also providing additional logistic support and equipment.

Portuguese Travelers Tested Negative

Two travelers returning to Portugal from Angola were investigated for possible Marburg virus infection and laboratory results were negative in tests performed by the Bernard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany, a WHO Reference Laboratory.

CDC confirmed the presence of Marburg virus in 9 of 12 specimens submitted from an outbreak of suspected acute hemorrhagic fever syndrome in Uige Province in northern Angola.

Laboratory testing was conducted by CDC’s Special Pathogens Branch on March 21, 2005. At that time, approximately 75% of the reported cases were in children younger than 5 years of age; males and females were affected almost equally. Predominant symptoms have included fever, hemorrhage, vomiting, cough, diarrhea, and jaundice.

Marburg Symptoms

Marburg hemorrhagic fever is caused by a virus that is believed to primarily inhabit countries in East and Central Africa. Although the disease is rare, it has the potential to spread to other people, especially health-care staff and family members who care for the patient.

Transmission to humans may occur through direct contact with the body fluids (i.e., blood, saliva, urine) of an infected person or infected animal, or through contact with objects that have been contaminated with infectious material. Spread of the virus between human has occurred in settings of close contact, such as hospitals.

Early symptoms of Marburg hemorrhagic fever include sudden fever, chills, and muscle aches. Around the fifth day after the onset of symptoms, a skin rash may occur. Nausea, vomiting, chest pain, a sore throat, abdominal pain, and diarrhea then may appear. Symptoms become increasingly severe and may include jaundice, severe weight loss, change in mental status, and massive bleeding.

The prevention of Marburg virus includes measures to avoid contact with blood and body fluids of infected individuals, as well as contact with objects an infected person may have used (i.e., syringes, utensils). Top of Page