No fresh Marburg fever cases reported, virus cycle nears end

Aug 06, 2007

NO more cases of the deadly Marburg fever have been reported since the Ebola-like virus killed one person in Kamwenge 20 days ago. The virus has an active life cycle of 21 days.

By Fred Ouma

NO more cases of the deadly Marburg fever have been reported since the Ebola-like virus killed one person in Kamwenge 20 days ago. The virus has an active life cycle of 21 days.

“It is now 20 days since the outbreak and no more cases have been reported. Theoretically, we’re seeing a ray of hope as the virus cycle comes to an end,” the head of the national task force for haemorrhagic viruses, Dr. Sam Okware, said yesterday.

He reassured the public to stay calm, saying none of the people being monitored, including those who shared accommodation with patients, had developed fever or any other sign of Marburg.

An emergency response team, he added, had intensified surveillance on all places where the ‘contacts’ live.

“We’re on the ground, even in Kawumu village in Luweero district, where the victim was buried,” he said.

Meanwhile, the number of people being monitored for the deadly haemorrhagic fever in Kampala has increased to 55, up from 46 last week, the Ministry of Health, has said.

Nine more persons are being monitored in Bweyogerere, about 9km from Kampala city after they came in contact with the patients.

Other people being monitored are in Erisa Zone in Kawempe division, Ntinda I village in Nakawa and Kayonjo village in Kayunga district.
In Kamwenge district, the source of the outbreak, 100 persons are being monitored, the highest number so far.

The viral disease related to Ebola attacked two workers at the now closed Kitaka mine, some 420km from the capital city, Kampala.

Meanwhile, blood samples, including those of the skin of the monkey suspected to have caused the outbreak, are yet to be analysed at the US Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Okware noted that an ecology study has began in Kamwenge to establish the link between the Marburg disease and vectors such as bats, monkeys, rats, ticks flies and fleas, thought to be reservoirs.

Prof. Apuda Asibo, a professor of epidemiology from Makerere University, is leading the team of over eight experts from the Ministry of Health, the Uganda Virus Research Institute, the US Centre For Disease Control and the World Health Organisation.

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