Health ministry seeks Shs1.8b to fight outbreak of Marburg

Posted  Wednesday, October 24  2012 at  01:00

IN SUMMARY

The money if approved will be used to purchase drug supplies, protective gear, pay allowances for health workers and handle emergencies that may accrue from the outbreak. KAMPALA/KABALE

The Ministry of Health yesterday announced an emergency plan to fight Marburg in Kabale District. At least six people have died from the Marburg virus while at least 100 others are under surveillance, according to the Ministry of Health.

Ms Rukia Nakamatte, the ministry spokesperson, said a Shs1.8 billion supplementary budget was being sought to contain the disease. She said the money, if approved, will be used to purchase drug supplies, protective gear, allowances for health workers, as well as handle other emergencies that may accrue during the outbreak.

Meanwhile, health officials in Kabale have confirmed that a mortuary attendant, Jarson Tumukunde, who died early this month, succumbed to the Marburg fever. This is after four of his close family members developed signs of the virus this week.

Tumukunde 28, died on October 8 after having handled bodies of the first two victims who died late last month.

Late Tumukunde’s wife, mother and a sister were admitted at Rushoroza Health Centre III isolation centre yesterday. “The number of cases admitted at Rushoroza Health Centre III isolation centre is now seven and a total of 123 people that got in contact with the deceased persons are being closely monitored,” Dr Patrick Tusiime, a district official, said.

He added: “The situation is becoming complicated every day because I have been told that a security guard at one of the petrol stations in Kabale Town is hiding somewhere with signs similar to the virus. A new case has been reported in Bukora Village in Kitumba Sub-county. The surveillance team has been dispatched.”

Dr Tusiime said a team of health workers from Gulu, Bundibugyo and Kagadi hospitals has joined experts from World Health Organisation, UPDF and Ministry of Health, who have been on the ground since last week, to fight the virus.

In a related case, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has advised tourists to take precaution as they visit national parks in the wake of the outbreak of Marburg in the country. UWA’s acting executive director Andrew Seguya told Daily Monitor yesterday that a task force has been set up to sensitise the public on precautionary measures. http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Health+ministry+seeks+Shs1+8b+to+fight+outbreak+of+Marburg/-/688334/1593590/-/lgngyc/-/index.html

UGANDA: A brief history of haemorrhagic fever

Photo: Dr. Tom Geisbert/CDC

The Marburg virus is from the same family as Ebola

NAIROBI, 23 October 2012 (IRIN) - Uganda's Ministry of Health is calling for calm as it tries to trace members of the public who may have had contact with people who have died from or been infected by an outbreak of the Marburg virus in south-western Uganda. 

Marburg - a viral haemorrhagic fever from the same family as Ebola - causes severe headaches and malaise, followed by bleeding from multiple sites. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the fatality rate for Marburg is between 23 and 90 percent. The virus, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment, is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids or tissues of infected people.

According to the UN World Health Organization, as of 21 October, nine cases and five deaths had been reported in the south-western district of Kabale. By 22 October, at least one case - a woman from Kabale - had been reported at Mulago Hospital in the capital, Kampala. 

The Marburg outbreak comes hot on the heels of a July Ebola outbreak in western Uganda. IRIN has put together a brief history of Ebola and Marburg occurrences in the country:

1967 - Thirty-one laboratory workers in Germany and Yugoslavia handling African green monkeys from Uganda became infected with the Marburg virus; seven of the infected died.

2000 - An outbreak of the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus in northern and western Uganda affected more than 400 people and killed more than 220. According to the CDC, some of the major risk factors for acquiring the virus included: attending funerals of Ebola patients, providing medical care to patients without proper protective measures, and having contact with infected family members.

2007 - Four workers became infected with the Marburg virus in a lead and gold mine in western Uganda's Kamwenge District; two of them died.

2007/2008 - The first reported outbreak of the newly identified Bundibugyo strain of Ebola - named for a western Ugandan district - infected 131 people and killed 42.

2008 - A US traveller who explored a cave in western Uganda's Maramagambo Forest was diagnosed with Marburg upon returning to the US, but made a full recovery. Another traveller, this time from the Netherlands, also visited a cave in Maramagambo the same year, and was diagnosed with Marburg when she returned home; she died from the virus. It is believed they may have been exposed to the disease by bats, which host both the Marburg and Ebola virus.

2011 - In May, one person died of the Sudan strain of Ebola in the central district of Luwero.

2012 - In July, an outbreak of the same Ebola strain in the western district of Kibaale infected 24 people, killing 17. The country was declared Ebola-free on 4 October.

2012 - In October, the Marburg virus killed at least five people in the southwestern district of Kabale.  http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96618/UGANDA-A-brief-history-of-haemorrhagic-fever

Vietnam outbreak of blue ear pig and avian flu

Social business Oct. 23 hearing, according to the Vietnam Labor newspaper reported on October 19, 18, standing in the rich Ontario Veterinary province found blue ear pig disease outbreak, has found that nearly 500 pigs sick to death, as well as villagers not truthfully reported dead pig epidemic. In Nha Trang City eight townships outbreak of blue ear pig epidemic, more than 300 pigs infected. Another three townships found the bird flu epidemic, more than 2000 chickens infected.  http://finance.sina.com.cn/money/future/20121023/103813448111.shtml

Silencing the bird flu gene: scientists prep live hen trials

23 October 2012, 3.39pm AEST

Researchers hoping to produce modified chickens hatched with in-built resistance to bird flu will conduct trials on live hens later this year, an Australian scientist said on Tuesday.

CSIRO research scientist, Dr Tim Doran, has been using a technique called gene silencing to “switch off” virus genes that make chickens susceptible to H5N1, the bird flu that has devastated livestock and killed 359 people worldwide since 2003.

H5N1 can be transmitted from bird to human; however, health authorities fear a pandemic could break out if the disease mutates and develops the ability to jump more readily from person to person.

Dr Doran said his team has shown, in mice and in fertilised chicken eggs, that gene silencing techniques can stop bird flu by interrupting the virus' reproduction processes. They have now produced transgenic chickens, which should be resistant to H5N1 and be able to pass that resistance onto their chicks.

“We are getting geared up to do what we call a challenge experiment, where we test our transgenic chickens for resistance to bird flu virus. We expect the first lot of those experiments to be conducted late this year or early next year,” Dr Doran said on Tuesday, speaking fro...  http://theconversation.edu.au/silencing-the-bird-flu-gene-scientists-prep-live-hen-trials-10232

MARBURG UPDATE: TV REPORT

eNCA | Uganda Declares Deadly Marburg Outbreak

22 Oct 2012

Marburg haemorrhagic fever breaks out in Uganda UN Radio report

To find out more about the outbreak in Uganda, UN Radio's Derrick Mbatha spoke on the line to the Ugandan capital Kampala with Dr. Joaquim Saweka, the WHO Representative in the country.

Duration: 4'57"

http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2012/10/marburg-haemorrhagic-fever-breaks-out-in-uganda/

Emergency Message Message for U.S. Citizens

Emergency Message

Message for U.S. Citizens
October 22, 2012
Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever Update

On October 20, 2012, the Uganda Ministry of Health announced an outbreak of Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever in Kabale District that has resulted in five deaths.  Laboratory investigations confirmed Marburg in three cases.  The Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and international partners are investigating the cases to determine the extent of the outbreak and if additional cases are present.

Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever is a rare, severe type of hemorrhagic fever that affects both humans and non-human primates.  A person suffering from Marburg presents with sudden onset of high fever with headache, chills and body aches.  Around the fifth day after the onset of symptoms, a rash (most prominent on the chest, back, or stomach) may occur.  Nausea, vomiting, chest pain, a sore throat, abdominal pain, and diarrhea then may appear. 

Symptoms become increasingly severe and may include jaundice, inflammation of the pancreas, weight loss, delirium, shock, liver failure, massive hemorrhaging, and multi-organ dysfunction.  Marburg disease may be spread through direct contact with body fluids like saliva, urine or blood of an infected person or the body of someone who has died from the disease.  Since the virus spreads through direct contact with blood and other body secretions of an infected person, people living with and caring for Marburg patients are at a high risk of getting infected.

The U.S. Embassy has advised that all embassy members residing and traveling in southwest Uganda avoid contact with individuals exhibiting the symptoms described above until further information becomes available, and strongly recommend that private citizens do likewise.  To minimize the risk of contracting Marburg, avoid direct contact with body fluids by wearing protective materials like gloves, masks, and gowns. The CDC also recommends avoiding exposure to primates, fruit bats, and areas where fruit bats reside (caves, roosts and abandoned buildings). For more information on Marburg hemorrhagic fever, please visit the CDC website,
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/marburg/qa.htm.

U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad are encouraged to enroll in the Department of State's Smart Traveler Enrollment Progr...

 http://kampala.usembassy.gov/em_10232012.html

Rwanda: Four Districts Put On High Risk Marburg Alert

BY MARIA KAITESI, 23 OCTOBER 2012

Musanze, Gicumbi, Nyagatare and Burera districts that border Uganda are on high alert over the Marburg hemorrhagic fever.

Efforts are being intensified to ensure that the outbreak of the highly contagious deadly disease doesn't spread to Rwanda.

Therese Mujawamariya, the Vice Mayor in charge of social affairs in Gicumbi District, yesterday said the district shares a boundary with Kabale District in Uganda where the out break was confirmed, having claimed five people by press time.

Mujawamariya told The New Times she was meeting with a team from immigration and other officials at Gatuna border to discuss means of preventing the epidemic and sensitising residents.

Gatuna is the main border town between Rwanda and Uganda.

"We are also going to minimise movement to and from Kabale district to ensure that infected persons don't cross into Rwanda. People should travel through the official borders and also report immediately any cases with symptoms of this disease," she said...  http://allafrica.com/stories/201210230067.html

Marburg: 34 monitored, two isolated

Publish Date: Oct 23, 2012

By Pascal Kwesiga, Goodluck Musinguzi Violet Nabatanzi and Isaac Nuwagaba

Thirty-four people who are suspected to have had contact with the five killed by the deadly Marburg virus in Kabale district are being monitored by a team from the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation.

The ministry spokesperson, Rukia Nakamatte, on Monday said Obed Ntegyerize, a member of the deceased’s family and another man from Kamugangu sub-county are being treated at an isolation centre at Rushoroza Health Centre III in Kabale. This was after they tested positive for the virus that causes heamoregic fever.

Nakamatte explained that another team had been dispatched to Rukungiri district to monitor and trace people who are suspected to have had contact with Ntegyerize. Ntegyerize was found in a church in Rukungiri.

The 32-year-old Ntegyerize, who was under the illusion that his five family members in Kiyonjo parish in Kitumba sub-county had been killed by witchcraft, fled to Rukungiri to be prayed for.

Meanwhile, the district leadership has temporarily stopped leaders of the church where Ntegerize was found from conducting services.

Nakamatte said the 34 people, who include children, teachers and religious leaders, would be monitored from their homes on a daily basis.

She added that these people had not been quarantined at their homes, but been advised to report to health officials in case they developed symptoms of the disease.
She said the Red Cross and World Health Organisation had provided mattresses and personal protective gears for medical officers manning the isolation centre.

Meanwhile, the woman who tested positive for Marburg remains in a stable condition in an isolation room at Mulago Hospital. She is related to the five people who succumbed to the disease in Kabale two weeks ago.

Mulago authorities are also monitoring one nurse and two doctors who handled Twinomujuni as she bled after she suffered a miscarriage. At the time, it was not known that she had contracted the Marburg disease.

Dr. Jane Aceng, the director general of health services, in a statement issued yesterday, urged the people to avoid public gatherings and direct contact with body fluids of people suffering from the highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever.

She said apart from the experts who have been dispatched to the district to support both clinical and public health investigations, the national taskforce has reactivated its rapid response committees to handle any emergences.

Marburg disease that is caused by a virus, easily spreads through direct contact with wounds, body fluids like blood, saliva, vomitus, stool and urine of an infected person.

A person suffering from Marburg presents symptoms such as high fever, vomiting blood, joint and muscle pains and bleeding through the body openings like eyes, nose, gums, ears, anus and the skin.

It is a highly contagious disease that kills in a short time but can easily be prevented.

“The Ministry of Health calls upon the public to stay calm as all possible measures are being taken to control the situation.

“For more information and reports of any cases, please contact the ministry hotline on +256750996034,” Aceng added.

In Kabale, people remain in a state of panic. The district chairman, Patrick Besigye, said they have suspended a graduation ceremony at Kabale University that was slated to take place at the weekend and the district independence celebrations set for October 31.

District leaders in Kabale and the education ministry officials suspended all public functions in an effort to check the spread of the virus.

The meeting between the district leaders and the ministry officials held at Kabale district headquarters yesterday resolved that all gatherings in the district be called off and locals who had contacts with the victims of the disease be monitored for a minimum of nine days.

Besigye urged the population to abide by the health officials advice which discourages some of the burial rituals during the funerals of marburg victims

He cited the case of the residents of Rwabirondo village who on Sunday insisted that the health workers should not burn the mattresses which had been used by relatives who succumbed to the virus.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/6366...-isolated.html

Mulago hospital has confirmed that it has a patient with the Marburg disease

Mulago hospital has confirmed that it has a patient with the Marburg disease

Marburg cases rise to four

already 6

Tuesday, October 23  2012 at  01:00

KABALE/KAMPALA

Two more people suspected to be carrying the Marburg virus were yesterday admitted to Rushoroza Health centre III, bringing the number of those admitted to four.

Another 40 people are under surveillance, according to health officials in Kabale district where Marburg was first reported last week.

Two people; a child and an adult, were on Sunday admitted at Rushoroza Health Centre III where an isolation centre has been established. Yesterday, two more suspected cases were admitted at the centre.

One of the people admitted is Mr Obed Tutegyerize, a relative of the five people who have since died of the disease. Mr Tutegyereize was taking care of them at Kabale Referral Hospital but fled to Rukungiri for prayers after developing the same illness. Doctors on Sunday traced him from Bikurungu Village in Bwambara Sub-county in Rukungiri District, where he had gone to see a witch doctor.

The identities of the other three have not been revealed as doctors say they are waiting for results to confirm the tests. “Four people including a secondary school girl are currently admitted at the isolation centre and their blood samples have been taken to the Uganda Virus Research Institute for testing,” Dr Patrick Tusiime, the Kabale district health officer and the co-chair of the Marburg task force, said yesterday.

Holding activities
Meanwhile Kabale University has called off its graduation ceremony which was scheduled for this weekend after Marburg was reported in the district, the Vice Chancellor, Ms Joy Kwesiga, announced yesterday.

This follows warnings from health experts to the public to limit crowded gatherings.
In Kampala, Ms Sharon Twinomujuni, who was admitted to the hospital’s isolation camp on October 19 after she tested positive for Marburg is responding to treatment, according to hospital officials.

Ms Twinomujuni is a relative of one of the five people who have already died from Marburg.
The commissioner for National disease control in the Ministry of Health, Dr Dennis Lwamafa, cautioned the public, especially in the affected area against movement saying this could further spread the disease, but also it could be hard to trace suspected cases.

“One of the patients came from Kabale to Kampala and after a few days he travelled back to Rukungiri, although we have managed to trace him but he has expanded the transmission stretch,” Dr Lwamafa said.

UPDATE 1-Meningitis probe could hit hospital drug supplies - FDA

Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:54pm EDT

By Bill Berkrot

Oct 22 (Reuters) - The extended shutdown of a sister company of the pharmacy at the center of the deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak may exacerbate drug shortages for some hospitals and healthcare providers as the number of infection cases neared 300, U.S. health regulators said.

Ameridose, a drug manufacturer owned by the same people who own New England Compounding Center (NECC), has been closed since Oct. 10 and will remain shuttered until Nov. 5, while authorities complete an inspection of the plant as a precautionary measure - at least temporarily cutting off supplies to its customers.

NECC shipped thousands of potentially contaminated vials of a steroid used for injections to treat severe back pain. Some 14,000 patients may have been exposed to the medici  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/22/usa-health-meningitis-shortages-idUSL1E8LMK7N20121022?rpc=401

Tests confirm NY professor contracted hantavirus

• dated October 22, 2012, 3:31 p.m. ET

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Lab tests have confirmed that a New York professor contracted the potentially deadly hantavirus during a hiking trip in the Adirondacks.

A spokeswoman for Stony Brook University on Long Island said Monday the results were confirmed late last week. Doctors suspected the university professor contracted the disease after an August camping trip.

Lab results confirming the diagnosis were s.. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP50025f0449824e5f848157b38937d672.html

Number of U.S. meningitis cases from tainted injections nears 300

3:41 p.m. EDT, October 22, 2012


(Reuters) - The number of U.S. cases of meningitis from tainted injections of a steroid medication reached 294, up 12 from a day earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday.

There were three other cases of joint infections from the steroid medication that have not resulted in meningitis cases, bringing the national total of infections to 297, according to the CDC.

There were no new deaths reported, leaving the total number of fatalities at 23, the CDC said. The number of cases has continued to mount despite recall of the product by New England Compounding Center. Meningitis cases have been identified in 16 states and deaths in seven states. http://www.courant.com/health/sns-rt-us-usa-health-meningitis-casesbre89l1bx-20121022,0,3406602.story?

Killer disease reaches Uganda capital, five dead

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:19 GMT
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* Uganda last had Marburg outbreak in 2007

* Uganda declared itself free of Ebola early this month

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA, Oct 22 (Reuters) - An outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in Uganda has spread to the capital Kampala after an infected woman travelled to the city and the death toll from the disease, a cousin of Ebola, climbed to five, a health official said on Monday.

The latest outbreak of another haemorrhagic fever, first confirmed on Friday in Kabale district, 430 km (270 miles) southwest of Kampala, has rattled a country that only two weeks ago declared itself free of Ebola after it claimed at least 16 lives.

There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the Marburg virus, also known as Marburg haemorrhagic fever, which is transmitted through bodily fluids such as saliva and blood, or by handling infected wild animals such as monkeys.

"We have one case confirmed in Mulago Hospital while the number of the dead is now five," Rukia Nakamatte, spokesperson for the ministry of health told Reuters on Monday.

"Thirty -four contacts (people are) being monitored and an isolation facility is being set up."

A health official told Reuters on Monday that the woman at Mulago, the country's largest referral hospital, had travelled to Kampala about five days ago and is a member of a family in Kabale which lost three people.

Health investigators have yet to determined the origin of the latest Marburg infection but Uganda's director general of health services, Dr. Ruth Aceng, said on Friday that outbreaks of haemorrhagic fevers in Uganda tend to occur between June and September.

This is the period when villagers who go into the wild to collect fruit are likely to come into contact with wild animals such as fruit bats, a natural vector for the Marbug virus.

Elly Matte, a police spokesperson in Kabale, said people were alarmed about the viral outbreak. "We... might impose a quarantine if the situation worsens," he said.

Ugandan Health officials, as preventative measures, have urged people to avoid public gatherings and bodily contact. The World Health Organization has deployed a team to the district to support the outbreak investigation and response.

The last outbreak of Marburg in Uganda was in 2007 and killed two miners in the west while the deadliest occurrence of haemorrhagic fever was in 2000 when 425 people contracted Ebola and more than half of them died.

Marburg, from the same family of viruses as Ebola, starts with a severe headache followed by haemorrhaging and, in previous outbreaks in Africa, to death in 80 percent or more of cases, usually within eight to nine days.

Although both viruses are highly contagious and have high case fatalities, Marburg has a shorter incubation period of 14 days, compared to Ebola's 21.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/k...tal-five-dead/

6th MARBURG suspect

6th MARBURG suspect

MARBURG UPDATE: Hospital officials say the Kabale woman admitted at Mulago after she showed signs of the deadly Marburg virus is in a ‘stable’ condition. Sharon Twinomujuni was first treated for malaria then diagnosed with the virus first got treatment from a private clinic in Kisugu, Kampala. Twinomujuni is related to the family of five who were first killed in Kabale as the first victims of the Marburg virus.

http://www.radiocity.ug/radiocity/

Marburg haemorrhagic fever in Uganda

21 OCTOBER 2012 - The Ministry of Health in Uganda has declared an outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Kitumba sub-county, Kabale district in South-western Uganda.

Blood samples from 3 cases have tested positive for Marburg at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). Investigation into the outbreak is ongoing.The Ministry of Health (MOH) is working closely with partners to control the outbreak.

The MOH and WHO have deployed a team to the district to support the outbreak investigation and response, including case contact tracing. The national and district taskforces have been reactivated.

WHO will provide support to the national authorities as needed in the areas of coordination, infection prevention and control (IPC), surveillance, epidemiology, public information and social mobilization, anthropological analysis and logistics for outbreak response.

With respect to this outbreak, WHO does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions are applied to Uganda. http://www.who.int/csr/don/2012_10_21/en/index.html

UN health agency working with Ugandan authorities to combat Marburg outbreak

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43346&Cr=disease&Cr1=#.UIVqH8Xpeek

MARBURG: PUBLIC GATHERINGS BANNED IN KABALE

Authorities in Kabale have banned all public gatherings as the district moves to contain the outbreak of Marburg Virus. The deadly virus has so far claimed a total of 5 people, while 36 others are being monitored in their homes in the districts of Rukungiri and Kabale.   http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=46760 

..The belated celebrations of independence in Kabale district are likely to be suspended due to the breakdown of Marburg fever in the area.

The celebration has been scheduled next week at Kabale stadium.

Mbarara district MP Mederd Bitekyerezo says that the celebrations must be stopped to save people from getting affected from Marburg.

“Marburg is like Ebola.People should avoid being in crowd” Betekyerezo noted  http://www.ugandapicks.com/2012/10/independence-celebrations-in-kabale-suspended-over-marburg-26164.html

the body of Nathan Biryamubaho

Health workers carry the body of Nathan Biryamubaho, a Marburg virus victim, for burial in Kabale District at the weekend. The disease has killed five people. PHOTO BY Robert Muhereza 

Two admitted with Marburg virus signs

By Robert Muhereza

Posted  Monday, October 22  2012 at  01:00 Kabale

Two people with signs of Marburg virus were admitted to a newly-relocated treatment centre for the disease yesterday.

The patients were taken to Rushoroza Health Centre III, two kilometres away on Kabale-Katuna road, to reduce congestion at Kabale Referral Hospital.

The district health officer, Dr Patrick Tusiime, at the weekend said the epidemic experts decided to relocate the emergency centre because the virus can easily be transmitted to other patients.

“The emergency ward is situated in the middle of the hospital and there is a scare of possible spread of the virus in this congested area,” Dr Tusiime said. Five people have so far died of Marburg virus in Kabale, creating fear among several residents in Kitumba Sub-county where the victims originate.

Five experts from the Ministry of Health, World Health Organisation and UPDF are handling the virus outbreak in the district under the coordination of Dr Joseph Wamala.

The team has organised drills for some health staff at Kabale hospital on how to handle the virus cases and protecting themselves against infection. Meanwhile, three people who died of Marburg virus have been buried in their respective villages under the strict supervision of the epidemic experts.

Barred from burial
Dr Tusiime said the relatives of the deceased were not allowed to attend the burial because they lacked protective gear. Nathan Biryamurabaho was buried at Hamuganda Village in Kitumba Sub-county on Saturday at 6:30pm. Boaz Turyahikayo, 28 and his sister Medrid Asasira, 26 were buried yesterday at Rwabirondo Village in Ndorwa West.

The other two victims were buried earlier by their relatives. Samples were taken from their bodies and tested positive for Marburg. Biryamubaho’s body was found at his home village in Hamuganda because his relatives sneaked it out of the isolation centre at Kabale hospital after health workers abandoned them.

Dr Tusiime warned the deceased’s relatives against travelling outside their village to avoid transmiting the virus in case they are infected. “The relatives who got in contact with the bodies of the deceased must not attend crowded places like churches, schools and markets until 21 days of surveillance are over. We are working with the epidemic experts to trace other health workers who handled the deceased so that they are closely monitored,” Dr Tusiime said.

Ndorwa West MP David Bahati said he was working with the Ministry of Health and district officials to ensure that they prevent further deaths, especially among those that taking care for the deceased.  http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Two+admitted+with+Marburg+virus+signs/-/688334/1538790/-/w3ywh6/-/index.html

From Ebola to Marburg: rare virus rocks Uganda

The deadly Marburg haemorrhagic fever in the southwestern Ugandan district of Kabale claimed a fifth life from the same family at the weekend.

Dr Patrick Tusiime, the Kabale district health officer, told The Observer that the fifth victim died on Saturday morning and was quickly buried by a team of health officials to avert the spread of the disease. The Uganda Virus Research Institute and the ministry of Health confirmed the outbreak of the Marburg virus in Rwabihondo village, Kitumba parish, Ndorwa West constituency, on Friday.

The victims include Boaz Turyahikayo, a lecturer at Uganda Christian University and his sister, Mildred Ansasiire, a primary school teacher.

“We have restricted family members from moving out to avoid spreading the disease,” Dr Tusiime explained, adding that the family members would be confined in their home from where they would be monitored for 9-10 days...  http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21675%3Afrom-ebola-to-marburg-rare-virus-rocks-uganda&catid=34%3Anews&Itemid=114

The Ebola epidemic is under control in the Haut-Uele, according to the Minister of Public Health

Kinshasa, 18/10 / (ACP). - The outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever officially declared August 17, 2012 in the areas of health and Isiro Viadana in the district of Haut-Uele in Orientale Province, is currently under control, said Wednesday in Kinshasa, during a press briefing, the Minister of Health, Dr. Felix Kabange Numbi. The Minister of Health said that only two cases have been reported in the past three weeks, September 29 and October 11, 2012 and the cumulative number of 77 cases including 36 deaths since the beginning of the epidemic.Nearly 800 people have been in contact with patients have been followed, the minister added stressing that investigations on the ground indicate that the epidemic had started in March 2012 and not in May 2012 as previously announced.  http://www.acpcongo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12767:lepidemie-d-ebola-est-sous-controle-dans-le-haut-uele-selon-le-ministre-de-la-sante-publique&catid=41:sante&Itemid=62

Refugees from Congo suspected to have brought Marburg to Uganda

BY DR. WOLFGANG H. THOME, ETN UGANDA | OCT 19, 2012

UGANDA (eTN) - According to emerging reports from Southwestern Uganda, there is increasing suspicion of an outbreak of the deadly Marburg fever, and affected individuals have been tested and put into a full quarantine. A team of health officials is on the ground, assisted reportedly by security personnel, combing areas where refugees have sought shelter to identify anyone displaying symptoms in line with the early signs of the disease.

Only two weeks ago, Uganda was declared Ebola free, after an outbreak, also suspected to have been brought into Uganda from the Eastern Congo, which took a toll on patients and health workers. Marburg falls into the same category of virus diseases as Ebola, and while less virulent, is still known to be a killer disease with a high percentage of casualties.

Diseases in Congo’s rain forests are common but normally contained within a small radius of one or two communities, but with the lack of health care structures in that part of the Congo, where at the moment intense fighting is going on, it makes refugees often the main carriers to bring such disease across the border into Uganda, where a much better-equipped health care infrastructure is then compelled to deal with the unwanted "imports."

The local media in Kampala is now starting to pick up on the news, which almost inevitably started to emerge on Twitter as individuals on the ground sent messages out, which where then picked up and retweeted.  

The outbreak comes on the day prior to Uganda’s National Bird Watching contest, with the opening ceremony taking place this afternoon at the Uganda Museum in Kampala from where the participating teams were to leave for their chosen locations upcountry and in the national parks.

A full statement is expected later today from the Ministry of Health, but the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe has reportedly confirmed that it is Marburg, prompting widespread containment measures now unfolding around the affected areas between Kabale and Kisoro.

http://www.eturbonews.com/31810/refugees-congo-suspected-have-brought-marburg-uganda

17 quarantined over Marburg virus

Publish Date: Oct 21, 2012
By Robert Mwesigye

Seventeen people have so far been quarantined over the Marburg Virus in Kabale District.

Ministry of health spokesperson Rukia Nakamatte said though no other person has shown signs and symptoms of the deadly virus, they have quarantined seventeen people.

She said they will monitor the seventeen until the expected gestation period of the virus to ensure they are not infected.

The seventeen are mainly patients and workers at Kabale regional referral hospital.
So far five deaths have been confirmed by the ministry due to the virus that caused panic in the districts of Kabale and Rukungiri where one person, Obed Tegyereize, had travelled reportedly to seek help from pastors.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/6366...rg-virus.html?

Marburg virus outbreak kills 4- video

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWHI2zlKvhE

Marburg akw