HHS Sends Team to Angola to Fight Marburg Virus OutbreakApril 4, 2005 - From October 1, 2004 to April 1, 2005, 140 cases of Marburg virus hemorrhagic fever (VHF) were identified in Angola; of these, 132 were fatal. Approximately 75 percent of the cases were in children under age five. Health care workers and other adults have also fallen ill. Historically, mortality rates of Marburg have ranged from approximately 25 percent to 80 percent, making this outbreak the deadliest on record. Supportive care is needed, and to date, no vaccine or curative treatment is available. HHS is sending Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specialists to work with the Ministry of Health in Angola providing the technical assistance to conduct epidemiological investigations, infection control, and laboratory diagnosis of cases of the Marburg VHF. Experts in risk communication and media outreach are on the team. One goal is to enhance the laboratory capacity for local confirmation of the Marburg virus to strengthen the public health response for the epidemic. The National Institutes of Health is also participating in this effort. At the request of Dr. Luis Sambo, the World Health Organization Regional Director for Africa, this group will join the World Health Organization-coordinated Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network. HHS is also providing protective equipment, including masks, face shields, and gowns to the Republic of Angola. Marburg VHF presents as an acute febrile illness, and it can progress within six to eight days from onset with a headache and malaise to hemorrhaging. It is a severe and highly fatal disease caused by a virus from the same family as the one that causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever. These viruses are among the most virulent pathogens known to infect humans. Both diseases are rare, but have a capacity to cause dramatic outbreaks with high fatality rates. For more information:
Last revised: August 14, 2007 | 
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