Health Agencies Fight Marburg Virus in Angola

LUANDA, Angola – To contain the spread of Marburg hemorrhagic fever, an Ebola-like virus that has killed 239 people in two months, USAID is sending masks and other protective equipment and helping Angola set up a field laboratory and funding.

Some 266 cases of Marburg – of which 244 have been fatal – were recorded by early May. Nearly all were in the northern province of Uige with a handful of cases also registered in four other provinces.

USAID on April 18 allocated $525,000 to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Angolan Ministry of Health to establish a field laboratory at the National Institute for Public Health. The lab can detect viral RNA and antigens in clinical specimens and can test for evidence of recent or past infection in people who have recovered from Marburg virus infections.

USAID support will also mobilize additional epidemiologists. It will cover the shipping costs of laboratory and protective equipment such as masks.

The Marburg outbreak was formally declared on March 24, 2005.

The CDC, World Health Organization, and Doctors Without Borders are coordinating logistics, epidemiology, laboratory diagnostics, and social mobilization to prevent the further spread of the virus. They are also directing the isolation and treatment of patients.

USAID bureaus for Global Health and Africa, as well as the bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance are funding the battle against Marburg.

Neighboring countries have placed their health services on high alert.

Angola is hampered in its ability to control the disease because of a weak healthcare system, lack of personnel and supplies, and inadequate information systems for finding cases. As cases are not detected, health officials cannot stop the virus from spreading.