Experts: Marburg Outbreak Could Become Long-Term Crisis....

[Media_Lies_Daily]

Experts: Marburg Outbreak Could Become Long-Term Crisis
<http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=32803>

QUOTE:

Disease experts struggling to contain an outbreak of the Marburg virus that has killed at least 194 people in Angola say it will take weeks to determine whether the disease can be stamped out before it becomes a long-term crisis.

MY NOTE: This article seems to have been written several days ago because the death toll now stands at 210, 214, or 221 depending on which source you may want to believe. The worrisome part in this article is the comment that it may take weeks to know whether or not they can halt the disease.

Meanwhile, scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases are investigating whether a drug that has shown promise against the related Ebola virus might work against Marburg.

In a 2003 study, the drug cured Ebola in one-third of the monkeys it was tested on.

MY NOTE: They don't mention that 2/3 of the monkeys died after being given the drug noted above. That's marginally better than the 90% death rate usually attributed to Ebola.

There is a pretty good listing of known facts about this Marburg version toward the end of the article.

[Avalux]

1. It seems this outbreak of Marburg has a much higher mortality rate -

mortality rate is typically thought to be around 25%...is it possible this could be a super strain? Or some sort of mutation between Marburg and Ebola? The two viruses are very similar, Marburg is identical to Ebola in form and structure, but antigenically different (stimulates the production of different antibodies).

[Media_Lies_Daily]

2. So far, there are NO survivors of this strain of Marburg...

...all people entering hospitals in the affected area have not come out alive. The mortality rate for this version of Marburg has been at, or close to, 100%.

[Avalux]

3. Much more like Ebola then -

I'm gonna have to do some further looking around on this. One thing about the outbreak though - you don't have to worry about a worldwide pandemic. It's a self-defeating virus - burns itself out before it has a chance to spread too much (I know, no consolation for those in the infected regions).

[Media_Lies_Daily]

4. The first known cases took place in October 2004, but....

...nobody seems to have a clue as to when it really emerged. They also don't know how many people may have already died prior to the correct diagnosis being made last October. This version of Marburg also appears to have a longer incubation period than the earlier versions of Marburg...which I suspect makes it a lot harder to get under control.

[HeeBGBz]

5. Was there Marburg in Italy?

Just saw this on another website and hadn't heard anything about it.

Marburg Virus Kills 127 in Angola

This was an April 1st news article.

In Italy, nine people who were in contact with a sufferer in Angola have been put in isolation, although they do not have any symptoms of the disease, WHO officials said, adding that they did not have any other details about those in isolation.