Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, president Uganda, asked his citizenry to be vigilant in the wake of a recent fatality from the deadly Marburg virus in the nation's capital. President Museveni was only just recently in New York at the United Nations assembly to discuss the world's response to the growing Ebola outbreak. UPI /Monika Graff |
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KAMPALA, Uganda, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A 30-year-old health worker in Uganda has passed away after battling the Marburg virus for several days. The young man was isolated in a hospital in Kampala after contracting the deadly Ebola-like disease several days ago.
Marburg is a hemorrhagic fever virus named after the West German town where it was first discovered in 1967, after monkeys imported from Africa for a science experiment transmitted the disease to 31 people in West Germany and Yugoslavia. There have been 11 separate outbreaks of Marburg since, most of which occurred in Africa, including South Africa, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. The last four, including the most recent, have all occurred in Uganda, a small landlocked nation in East Africa.
Uganda's government recently confirmed the newest Marburg fatality, saying as many as 80 people who had contact with the deceased are now being monitored by health officials. The victim's brother is already in isolation after having shown early symptoms of the virus.
"The Ministry of health is tracing all the people including relatives who may have been in close contact. Please report suspicious cases," advised Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, in a message on Twitter.
"Uganda has experience and adequate capacity to deal with this health threat & World Health Organisation has been informed," the nation's prime minister, Ruhakana Rugunda, said in a separate message. "Uganda has previously successfully handled similar situations of health threats involving Hemorrhagic fevers."
In addition to monkeys, the virus is also thought to be spread by fruit bats, which some Ugandans cook and eat. There is currently no approved treatment or vaccine for the disease, which first presents itself in the form of a severe headache and fever. Victims often begin vomiting blood, and experience joint and muscle pains, as well as bleeding through orifices.
The worst ever Marburg outbreak occurred in 2004 in Angola, when 252 people contracted the disease -- 90 percent of which perished from the virus.
