Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever Kills Five in Uganda

Five people died in an outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever that probably infected four others in southwestern Uganda, the World Health Organization said.

Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a severe and highly fatal disease caused by a virus from the same family as the one that causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for Marburg hemorrhagic fever, which was initially detected in 1967 following simultaneous outbreaks in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia, according to WHO.

The initial cases occurred in laboratory workers handling African green monkeys imported from Uganda. Since then, outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Kenya. It has also been reported in South Africa in a person who had recently traveled to Zimbabwe, WHO said.

Infection results from contact with blood or other body fluids, such as feces and saliva, with high virus concentration. Patients become increasingly infectious as their illness progresses, and are most infectious during the phase of severe illness, according to a WHO fact sheet.

SOURCE

Well this is shocking! It seems like TPTB are working overtime, there's no way I'm buying the official story. Something is definitely going down in Central and Eastern Africa.

Clinical Features

Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly, with severe headache and severe malaise. Muscle aches and pains are a common feature.

A high fever usually appears on the first day of illness, followed by progressive and rapid debilitation. A severe watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain and cramping, nausea, and vomiting begin about the third day. Diarrhoea can persist for a week. The appearance of patients at this phase has been described as showing “ghost-like” drawn features, deep-set eyes, expressionless faces, and extreme lethargy. In the 1967 European outbreak, a non-itchy rash was a feature noted in most patients between days 2 and 7 after symptom onset.

Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic manifestations between days 5 and 7, and fatal cases usually have some form of bleeding, often from multiple sites. Findings of fresh blood in vomitus and faeces are often accompanied by bleeding from the nose, gums, and vagina. Spontaneous bleeding at venipuncture sites can be particularly troublesome. During the severe phase of illness, patients have sustained high fevers. Involvement of the central nervous system can result in confusion, irritability, and aggression. Orchitis has been reported occasionally in the late phase of disease (day 15).

In fatal cases, death occurs most often between 8 and 9 days after symptom onset, usually preceded by shock.

A History of recorded cases

1967: Germany and Yugoslavia. Marburg haemorrhagic fever was initially detected following simultaneous outbreaks in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and Belgrade, former Yugoslavia. The initial cases occurred in laboratory workers handling African green monkeys imported from Uganda. The outbreaks involved 25 primary infections, with 7 deaths, and 6 secondary cases, with no deaths. The primary infections were in laboratory staff exposed to Marburg virus while working with monkeys or their tissues. The secondary cases involved two doctors, a nurse, a post-mortem attendant, and the wife of a veterinarian. All secondary cases had direct contact, usually involving blood, with a primary case. Both doctors became infected through accidental skin pricks when drawing blood from patients.

1975: South Africa, possibly via Zimbabwe. In mid-February 1975, an Australian, aged 20 years, was admitted to a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. During early February, he and a companion had travelled extensively through Zimbabwe, often camping outdoors. He died of Marburg haemorrhagic fever four days after hospital admission. His travelling companion became infected, as did a nurse who attended both patients. Both secondary cases recovered.

1980: Kenya. In January 1980, a 56-year-old Frenchman, who had visited Kitum Cave in Kenya’s Mount Elgon National Park, became infected. Despite specialized care in Nairobi and aggressive resuscitation attempts, he died on 15 January. The doctor who attempted resuscitation developed symptoms 9 days later. He recovered.

1987: Kenya. In August 1987, a 15-year old Dane, was admitted to a hospital in Kenya, suffering from Marburg haemorrhagic fever. His illness proved fatal. Nine days prior to symptom onset, he had visited Kitum Cave in Mount Elgon National Park. No further cases were detected.

1998–2000: Democratic Republic of the Congo. The outbreak in DRC marked the first large outbreak of this disease under natural conditions. The outbreak, which occurred from late 1998 to 2000, involved 154 cases, of which 128 were fatal, representing a case fatality of 83%. The majority of cases occurred in young male workers at a gold mine in Durba, in the north-eastern part of the country, which proved to be the epicentre of the outbreak. Cases were subsequently detected in the neighbouring village of Watsa. Family members involved in the close care of patients accounted for some cases, but secondary transmission appeared to be rare. Subsequent virological investigation indicated that virus of several different strains was introduced to human populations, from some yet unknown environmental source, on more than seven separate occasions.

2004–2005: Angola. In what was to become the largest outbreak of MHF in history, this outbreak is believed to have begun in Uige Province in October 2004. By the time the last laboratory-confirmed case was identified in July 2005, the Ministry of Health had reported a total of 374 cases, including 329 deaths (CFR 88%) countrywide. Of these, 368 cases, including 323 deaths, were reported in Uige Province. All cases detected in other provinces have been linked directly to the outbreak in Uige.

2007: Uganda. From June to August 2007, three confirmed cases were reported in mineworkers from Kamwenge, western Uganda. The second and third miners developed illness after caring for their colleague; one of the caregivers died.

2008. In July 2008, a Dutch tourist developed Marburg four days after returning to the Netherlands from a three-week holiday in Uganda. To date, the source of the exposure has not been confirmed, although it is known that the woman visited caves in western Uganda where bats were present.

Source

I say the virus will be full blown and airborne in the next couple of years, this is as real as depopulation can get.

reply to post by DeadSnow


there was an article approx 2-3 weeks ago regarding other recent tourist/s touring in uganda and visiting a cave full of guana. outcome was ebola/bleedout.
i suspect that a factor involved in the tourists could be zero exposure to certain strains which some of the locals have somehow built up a resistance to. immunity to local hot zones seems plausible, however immune-compromised individuals may be at serious risk.
never did get a sound reply from cdc when i e-mailed them to the possibility that ebola and the common cold could co-infect and mutate.
f.

KAMPALA: The death toll of the deadly Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Uganda has risen to eight and nine other people have tested positive of the highly infectious diseases, a top ministry of health official said.

Five people have tested positive of the highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever in Kabale, two others in the capital Kampala and another two in the western district of Ibanda. "To date, the death toll of both the probable and confirmed cases stands at eight. Since the onset of the outbreak, we have collected a total of 45 samples of which nine were confirmed positive," said Ondoa.

A total of seven student nurses who attended to a Marburg patient at Ibanda Hospital and died on October 24 at Mbarara Regional Hospital have been quarantined. The ministry is also monitoring a total 436 people who had contact with the patients.

AND THIS!!!

Joaquim Saweka, World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative said that although the disease highly virulent, travel restrictions should not be imposed.

"As WHO we are not recommending travel restrictions in Uganda. We shall only restrict the movements when the situation goes out of hand. (Xinhua)

Source

reply to post by DeadSnow


I know this is a conspiracy site - but c'mon ... depopulation? I fail to see how this can be deliberate or if it was - what would be the point?

Marburg, Ebola and other types of haemorragic diseases are horrific to be sure. In fact it is said they they work to be fast to be truly effective.
If airborne the results could be far different, but even in rural villages in Africa, the concept of isolation is an accepted and well-known practice with only the occasional infected person slipping into more urban areas before detection (intentional or not).

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


I don't believe in the whole HIV/Monkey story, and clearly Aids has failed to live up to it's expectations. People are becoming smarter now and protecting themselves, basically it's not as effective as they would have hoped. They're over 5000 mutations of the virus. I believe and it's only a matter of time before one of these killer viruses becomes airborne.