PRESS STATEMENT ON THE UPDATE ON THE MARBURG OUTBREAK

October 25th 2012 

MINISTRY OF HEALTH 
P. O. BOX 7272, 
KAMPALA - UGANDA
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE UPDATE OF MARBURG OUTBREAK 

The Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of Marburg in Kabale district on October 19th 2012 after receiving laboratory results from the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) confirming that two family members had died of the highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever. Three other members of the same family had earlier died of a strange disease in a period of one month. 
The death of these people prompted the District Health Office to undertake further investigations of this strange disease that had ravaged Kitumba parish in Kitumba sub-county, Kabale district. 
According to the reports, the patients presented with symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, headache, dizziness and generalized convulsions. Initial samples of blood and cerebral spiral fluid taken from the sick people ruled out Malaria and Meningitis. The family then invited a cult leader, a retired Reverend from Rukungiri, district to visit their household and pray for the sick. 
The index case is believed to have been a member of a family in Rwabirondo village, Kitumba parish in Kitumba sub-county which occurred on 20th September 2012. After the death of the index case, two other people, a sister and mother reportedly got sick and died. 
This outbreak comes barely two weeks after the Ministry declared an end to another viral Hemorrhagic Fever (Ebola) on October 4th 2012. The last Marburg outbreak was witnessed in October 2007in Kamwenge district. 
Marburg is a highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever which kills in a short time but can be prevented. Marburg is spread through direct contact with, body fluids like blood, saliva, vomitus, stool and urine of an infected person. 
A person suffering from Marburg presents with sudden onset of high fever with any of the following; headache, vomiting blood, joint and muscle pains and bleeding through the body openings, i.e. eyes (red eyes), nose, gums, ears, anus and the skin. 
How is Marburg Spread?
It is spread through;
• Direct contact with wounds, body fluids like blood, saliva, vomitus, droplets, stool and urine of a person suffering from Marburg. 
• Unsterilised injections, contaminated linen, beddings and clothes.
• Using skin piercing instruments that have been used by an infected person. 
• Direct physical handling of persons who have died of Marburg

Current Status (Update) 
The Ministry of Health has developed a response plan and budget for the Marburg control amounting to sh2.3b of which sh1.75 is for central level activities including Ministry of Health, six general hospitals and Kampala Capital City Authority. This will be majorly for case management, surveillance, research and social mobilisation and procurement of protective gears. The district budget totals 651,047,576 and it covers case management, surveillance, research and social mobilisation. 

• Out of the six people who have died so far, only three were confirmed positive for Marburg. 

• Currently, there is only one confirmed case admitted in our isolation facility at Mulago National Referral Hospital. One convalescent case is detained at Rushoroza Health Center III while five suspect cases linked to the initial cases are admitted there awaiting blood results. Special teams of doctors and nurses have been assigned to attend to the patients in both the isolation facilities. The patient admitted at Mulago National Referral Hospital is from Kitumba sub-county and is a relative of the index case. 

• The Ministry of Health surveillance team has listed up a total of 196 contacts for close monitoring. These contacts are mainly in Kabale, Rukungiri and Ibanda districts while 29 are from Kampala. Those being monitored reportedly got into contact with either the dead or confirmed cases. The team continues to monitor them on a daily basis for possible signs and symptoms of this highly infectious disease until they have completed 10 days without showing any signs and symptoms. 

• A team of experts from the Ministry of Health, U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization have so far collected a total of 18 n samples from suspected cases for further investigations. The samples are being analyzed at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe.

• The Ministry is conducting an orientation of local healthcare workers in Kabale Regional Referral Hospital and in the other peripheral health facilities on infection prevention and control, barrier nursing, surveillance and clinical case management. This is being done to build health workers’ capacity to handle such cases. 

• In Rushoroza Health Centre, a burial committee has been set up to manage burials of people suspected to have died of Marburg. The committee has been oriented on burial procedures and infection prevention and control. This is one of the control measures to curb the spread of the highly contiguous disease. The committee has so far supervised two burials.
• A team from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is expected in the country to undertake anthropological studies.
The Ministry of Health once again urges the public to take the following measures to avert the spread of the disease.
• Report immediately any suspected patient to a nearby health unit
• Avoid direct contact with body fluids of a person suspected to be suffering from Marburg by using protective materials like gloves and masks
• Persons who have died of Marburg must be handled with strong protective wear and buried immediately
• Avoid eating dead animals
• Avoid unnecessary public gathering especially in the affected district
• Burial of suspicious community deaths should be done under close supervision of well trained burial teams
• Report all suspicious deaths to a nearby health facility 

Once again the Ministry of Health calls upon the public to stay calm as all possible measures are being undertaken to control the situation. 

Hon. Dr. Christine Ondoa 
Minister of Health 

http://www.mediacentre.go.ug/details.php?catId=3&item=1875

Marburg-6 dead 196 under surveillance

Marburg: Kampala safe, no travel restrictions
Publish Date: Oct 25, 2012


Medical team disperched to contain Marburg dressing up in Rushoroza health centre isolation ward in Kabale district.
By Taddeo Bwambale

Despite having one person admitted at Mulago Hospital with Marburg Haemorrhagic fever, health minister, Dr Christine Ondoa has assured Ugandans that the city is safe from the deadly virus. 

The World Health Organisation has also said it will not recommend travel restrictions within or outside the country at the moment, since the epidemic is under control.

A team of health experts from the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) arrives in the country next week to carry out a study on wild animals in districts where suspected cases of the Marburg virus has been reported. 

Addressing journalists at the media centre Thursday, Ondoa said the CDC team would help to confirm the cause of the outbreak which was confirmed this month.

She warned that communities living near forest areas in western Uganda were susceptible to infection from the Marburg virus since they often come into contact with wild animals. 

The last Marburg outbreak in Uganda was reported in October 2007 in Kamwenge district, and studies linked the virus to bats and wild game in Imaramagambo forest.

Marburg fever is caused by a virus that 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.

Ondoa confirmed that four of the six suspected cases had from suspected Marburg fever, while 196 people are under surveillance for possible contact with the infected in Kabale, Rukungiri, Ibanda and Kampala. 

One of the two confirmed Marburg victims is admitted at Mulago Hospital and in stable condition while another person is recovering at Rushoroza Health Centre III in Kabale district.

Dr Joachim Saweka, the WHO country representative said Uganda had one of the best surveillance teams in the region, but decried Government’s slow commitment to funding such interventions. 

The health ministry urgently needs sh2.3b to stem the epidemic, of which sh1.7b will be used to for surveillance, research and procurement of protective gear while sh650m is to be spent in the affected districts. http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/636785-marburg-kampala-safe-no-travel-restrictions.html

Marburg Virus claims another victim; death toll at 6

Publish Date: Oct 25, 2012
One of the two people, who were admitted on Monday with signs of the deadly marburg fever, has died.

Edward Turyamureba, a 38-year-old resident of Kicumbi Cell, Kamuganguzi sub-county, succumbed to severe bleeding and vomiting on Tuesday evening.

He is the sixth person suspected to have died from the disease since it was reported earlier this month. He was laid to rest at a brief funeral yesterday.

Two people were admitted to an isolation centre at Rushoroza Health Centre III in Kabale district on Monday.

However, the Ministry of Health spokesperson, Rukia Nakamatte, yesterday said samples from the patients tested at the Uganda Virus Research Institute laboratory in Entebbe were negative.

Since the marburg virus was first reported in the country, only one person has been confirmed to have contracted it since the five suspected victims were buried before tests were carried out.

Meanwhile, Obed Ntegyereize, the first confirmed victim, is steadily recovering, after tests conducted on him on Tuesday turned out negative, health officials disclosed.

Ntegyereize is related to the five people who died from a mysterious disease linked to the marburg fever two weeks ago.

Dr. Patrick Tusiime, the Kabale district director of health services, said a surveillance team was monitoring the bereaved family to ascertain whether they are not infected.

Panic engulfed residents yesterday after one of the patients at Kabale Hospital, initially suspected to have marburg, passed away. However, Tusiime said the deceased succumbed to a stroke.

At Mulago Hospital, Sharon Twinomujuni, who tested positive for Marburg, is steadily improving. The hospital’s spokesperson, Enock Kusasira, said doctors had recommended a strict diet to aid her recovery.

He also said the hospital had not registered any new case of Marburg although the 26 people who came into contact with her were under surveillance. An additional 132 people are being monitored in Kabale district.

In Rukungiri district, health officials have put at least 21 families on surveillance in Nyamitoma village, Bikurungu parish, on suspicion that they came into contact with the first victim during prayers in a church. Authorities have since closed the church to prevent the spread of the virus.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/636762-marburg-virus-claims-another-victim-death-toll-at-6.html
Compiled by Isaac Nuwagaba, Goodluck Musinguzi, Caleb Bahikaho, Taddeo Bwambale and Viola Nabatanzi 

Italy-Citizens Urged to not Purchase and to not Use Novartis Influenza Vaccines

Hattip Ironore hopper

Urgent: Citizens Urged to not Purchase and to not Use Novartis Influenza Vaccines

Press Release n. 216 – October 24 2012



The Ministry of Health and Italian Agency for Drugs Safety (AIFA) ordered the immediate precautionary interdiction to use the following seasonal influenza vaccines, until further investigations will be done:
Agrippal;
Influpozzi sub-unit;
Influpozzi adjuvanted;
Fluad.
Concerned citizens are urged to not purchase and to not use the above vaccines until a new pronouncement by the Ministry of Health.

The interdicted vaccines have been made by Novartis company.

The AIFA, on the basis of the documentation presented by the company, ordered additional investigations on the quality and safety of such vaccines, because of the possible increased reactogenicity of them, or their ability to cause adverse reactions and side effects.

The Minister of Health, professor Renato Balduzzi, is closely following the situation. Further details will be available later this day.
-  http://www.salastampa.salute.gov.it/attualita/paDettaglioComunicati.jsp?id=3744

Mexico declares end to bird flu outbreak

Mexico declares end to bird flu outbreak that caused egg, chicken prices to soar
October 24, 2012

Mexico says an outbreak of the H7N3 bird flu virus in western Mexico has been "totally controlled" after 68 days without any reports of new cases.

President Felipe Calderon said Wednesday that more than 22 million hens had been slaughtered throughout the country since efforts to contain the outbreak were announced in July.

The outbreak caused price increases in chicken and egg products in Mexico. Calderon said the outbreak caused significant damage because of the outbreak.

The United States was among the countries that began exporting eggs to Mexico to help lower egg prices.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/24/mexico-declares-end-to-bird-flu-outbreak-that-caused-egg-chicken-prices-to-soar/#ixzz2AEif0jPI

Marburg Virus: UWA warns tourists

October 24  2012 at  18:15

The Uganda Wildlife Authority has issued a warning to tourists visiting national parks, especially those that are habitants for primates, to take precaution following an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the country.

The authority’s acting executive director, Dr Andrew Seguya, told Daily Monitor on Tuesday that a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary National Taskforce has been put in place to, among other actions, mobilise and sensitise the public on precautionary measures like including wearing protective gowns, gloves and masks, and not to use skin piercing equipment used by Marburg infected persons.

He added that there have not been any cases of trip cancellation so far. He, however, added that some tourists might cancel trips if the disease is not contained.

The Ministry of Health last week declared an outbreak of the Marburg virus in Kabale district, with five people confirmed to have died of the disease.

Four more people are admitted at Rushoroza Health centre III while another 40 people are under surveillance.

The Marburg virus disease is reported to be transmitted through bodily fluids such as saliva and blood of an infected person, along with getting in touch with infected wild animals such as monkeys.

Mr Cuthbert Baguma, the executive director of the Uganda Tourism Board says there is no need to panic despite the fact that one of the cases occurred in a tourism attraction area.

Kabale district is on the way to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Other attractions in the area include Ihimba Hot Springs and Lake Bunyonyi.

Mr Baguma further said that UTB together with other industry players is conducting an impact assessment to determine the effect it has had on tourism.

Hopes for a successful year were dampened in the tourism sector recently after tourists reportedly cancelled trips following an Ebola outbreak in Kibaale National Park.  http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Marburg+Virus++UWA+warns+tourists/-/688334/1594174/-/xgiiwa/-/index.html

Marburg: 132 now being monitored

Oct 24, 2012

Two more people have been admitted to an isolation centre at Rushoroza Health Centre III in Kabale district with signs of the deadly marburg fever. This brings the number of suspected cases to seven.

The number of people being monitored by World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health has also risen from 34 to 132.

Dr. Patrick Tusiime, the Kabale district director of health services, yesterday said the number of suspected cases was rising.

At least two people are confirmed to have contracted the marburg virus since it was first reported in the Kabale district this month.

According to the health ministry, marburg has so far claimed one person, although at least five people have died after showing symptoms linked to the deadly virus.

The ministry spokesperson, Rukia Nakamatte, Tuesday said the samples of the suspected cases were taken to the Uganda Virus Research Institute laboratory in Entebbe for testing.

The two new cases reported on Monday are an 18-year-old female student from Kabale Secondary School, who was admitted at Kabale Regional Referral Hospital.

Her brother, a mortuary attendant at the hospital, died last week shortly after preparing the body of the first suspected marburg victim.

Another suspected case is the 54-year-old mother to the deceased, who developed severe abdominal pain, vomiting, chest pain and profuse sweating.

The first suspected case of marburg fever was reported two weeks ago after a family of five died from a mysterious disease.

The survivor, Obed Ntegyereize, fled Kiyonjo Parish in Kitumba sub-county in Kabale district to Rukungiri district, suspecting his relatives had been bewitched.

Ntegyereize, who tested positive for the virus, is being treated at Rushoroza Health Centre III.

The district leaders have temporarily banned public gatherings as a measure to stop further spread of the marburg virus.

Meanwhile, Sharon Twinomujuni, the woman who tested positive for Marburg and is a relative of the five people who died, is steadily improving. She is isolated at Mulago Hospital.

Appearing before the public accounts committee of Parliament yesterday, the permanent secretary in the health ministry, Dr Asuman Lukwago said the outbreak was under control  http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/6367...monitored.html

The Hunt for Ebola

A CDC team races to Uganda just days after an outbreak of the killer virus to try to pinpoint exactly how it is transmitted to humans

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Hunt-for-Ebola-174938951.html#ixzz2AAuOcgFd

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?