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| MARBURG DEATH TOLL STANDS AT 193 : W.H.O |
| 2005-04-10 |
| The death toll in Angola from the world's deadliest outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus has inched towards the 200 mark with nine more deaths, according to the health ministry and the UN World Health Organisation. "As of noon, the total number of cases nationwide is 218 and 193 people have died," a joint statement said, adding that 360 others were under surveillance in the southern African country where the outbreak was first detected in October. The last toll based on figures compiled up to Friday was 184. The communique said there were 173 fatalities and 189 cases in the northern province of Uige, the epicentre of the outbreak, followed by six deaths each in the Kwanza Sul and Zaire regions, four in Luanda province, two in Mananje and one each in Cabinda and Kwanza Norte. "The bishop of Uige spread a special awareness message about Marburg while taking mass today," the statement said. The Marburg virus, whose exact origin is unknown, spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as blood, excrement, vomit, saliva, sweat and tears, but can be contained with relatively simple health precautions, according to experts. The outbreak in Angola has overtaken an earlier outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the largest ever recorded of the virus, first detected in 1967 when German laboratory workers in the town of Marburg were infected by monkeys from Uganda. |
| Posted by:God Save The World |