To Stop Deadly Virus in Angola, Group Seeks Hospital's Closing (Much bad news here)

NYT ^ | 4-9-05 | `

[KoRn]

I'm by no means an authority on this, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but what jumps out at me is this disease has a longer incubation period than the Ebola Virus.

The Ebola virus, and others like it kill so fast it doesn't spread very far geographically. Since this disease, being more lethal, and having potential to spread outside of a limited geographic area; we could have a huge problem getting ready to go down.

Who cares though. The Micheal Jackson case is underway, and we shouldn't be paying attention to anything else!

[NY Attitude]

A response to your question may be that they have pourous borders and that people have travelled beyond the town. Just that alone may spread a wide area concern.

[Judith Anne]

Some logical dissonance here. If death is the almost- certain outcome, what the heck do you need a hospital for?

For isolation, primarily. And to know how many patients there are. But medical facilites are inadequate, at this point, and the question is likely moot in Angola.

[Judith Anne]

Please excuse me for jumping in.

Not a retrovirus.

[Gabz]

Closing the hospital in Uige may create similar new outbreaks elsewhere.

That was exactly my reaction when I read this. I can see isolating the hospitals for only Marburg victims - but to totally shut them down sounds to me like the wrong move.

[armymarinemom]

ack! My husband bought me that book to read while I was suffering from Legionaries disease.

[SE Mom]

Horrible..if this begins to spread further.

[muawiyah]

I'm envisioning this International Medical Team in the capital city telling some government bureaucrats "You go close that hospital".

Right!

[KoRn]

That was nice of him. =)

[muawiyah]

This probably isn't making big time news because the reporters are all keeping a healthy distance between themselves and the outbreak.

No doubt everyone could use a volunteer to go in there and see what's happening.

You are free to do so.

[Mears]

Beats me! I just E-mailed the article to my daughter.She reads the NYT anyway and may see it but I want to spread the word.

If it can be transferred by sweat think about the seats of planes,busses etc. The way I interpret the article the disease can be spread any old way.

Why aren't they just isolating everyone in the country
until they can beat this thing down?

I come from a generation where we were quarantined for many of the childhood diseases---quarantine of the entire area is the answer,I hope.

[Judith Anne]

From another forum:

NPR interview included comments by Christa Kitz, who is coordinating the work of Medecins Sans Frontieres. She indicated that cases in and around Luanda have been identified who have not been to Uige and have no contacts in Uige, indicating the urban transmission of Marburg has begun.

http://www.curevents.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=12832

[armymarinemom]

LOL, we just thought I had simple pneumonia at the time. It was still spooky especially when contacted by the CDC. I never want to deal with them again.

The whole matter did cause an interest in infection control.

[Boundless]

>> If death is the almost- certain outcome, what the
>> heck do you need a hospital for?

For isolation, primarily.

Except, as you allude, that isolation is not only not
working in this case, the hospitals are aggravating
transmission.

And the CDC, re this outbreak, has not updated its
travel recommendation since the 5th, which stands
unchanged as:
"No U.S. travel restrictions are recommended at this time."

Wouldn't it be nice if we had networks reporting
news, instead of providing wall-to-wall coverage of
philandering princes re-marrying.

[NY Attitude]

Consider the last flu Asian Flu season when all of a sudden it was everywhere. The sad fact is: no country wants to admit that a disease has traveled into their area.

[Judith Anne]

Borders are very porous.

Truthfully, EVERY border is porous. Everywhere.

[Jim Noble]

This will almost certainly result in some leaving Luanda, increasing the likelihood of Marburg being seeded internationally.

The airport should be closed.

[lainie]

I was just reading this article, which says Marburg, ebola, dengue, yellow fever, etc. are filoviruses/hemorrhagic fevers.

[KoRn]

"The airport should be closed."

Damn right it should be! If this thing got into a populated area of this country we should be in big trouble!

[Diogenesis]

01.025.0.01.001. Marburg virus [Location of isolation: Marburg; Germany]
CHARACTERISTICS: Filoviridae; 800-100 nm elongated filamentous virion, single stranded, negative sense RNA

Virus is assigned to the genus 01.025.0.01. "Marburg–like viruses"; family 01.025. Filoviridae; order 01. Mononegavirales.

EPIDEMIOLOGY: 1967 - outbreak in Germany and Yugoslavia following exposure to African green monkeys imported from East Africa (31 cases with 7 deaths); 1975 and 1982-4 cases reported in South Africa (originated in Zimbabwe); 1980 - two cases in Kenya

Virions have a complex construction and consist of an envelope, a nucleocapsid, a polymerase complex, and a matrix. Virions are enveloped. Virions are filamentous, or pleomorphic with extensive branching, or U-shaped, 6-shaped, or circular forms occur (particularly after purification) flexible; about 80 nm in diameter; 790 nm long (after purification). The surface projections are distinctive knob-shaped peplomers evenly covering the surface. They are spaced widely apart; evenly dispersed and embedded in a lipid bilayer. The surface projections comprise surface glycoproteins (GP) and are composed of one type of protein. Surface projections are 10 nm long; spaced 10 nm apart. The nucleocapsid exhibits helical symmetry. The nucleocapsid is helical; is cross-striated; 50 nm in diameter. Axial canal is distinct; in 20 nm in diameter; basic helix is obvious; pitch of helix is 5 nm. Morphologically aberrant forms are observe (after centrifugation).

The incubation period for hemorrhagic fever Marburg virus is 2 to 21 days.

Intrahepatic Marburg