Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever in Angola — Fighting Fear and a Lethal Pathogen

Vaccine To Confer to Nonhuman Primates Complete Protection against Multistrain Ebola and Marburg Virus Infections

“…The Panfilo vaccine approach is relevant both for biodefense applications and for the early response and containment of natural filovirus outbreaks, which have continued to emerge in central Africa since the mid-1990s with steady increases in frequency in recent years (http://www.who.int/mediacentre /factsheets/fs103/en/index1.html), including the recent EBOV outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (46), the MARV outbreak in Angola in 2005 (26), and the current EBOV outbreak in Uganda, which is due to a new, unnamed fifth species of EBOV (http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_12_07 /en/index.html). Because the identification of the causative agent during the early phase of acute filovirus outbreaks is usually unknown, first responders and caregivers could use a multivalent filovirus vaccine to both protect themselves and curtail the spread of disease through herd immunity.…”

Ebolavirus and Marburgvirus: Insight the Filoviridae family

“…The single coding ssRNA may give the transcriptional information for three forms of the envelope glycoprotein differing in length (i.e., three distinct mRNAs). Intergenic regions contain initiation and termination signals (see Jasenosky and Kawaoka, 2004;Mahanty and Bray, 2004;Ecker et al, 2005;Ndayimirije and Kindhauser, 2005;Hartlieb and Weissenhorn, 2006).…”

“…In the last five years, nine outbreaks of filovirus infection have occurred in Uganda, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan (Arthur, 2002;Pourrut et al, 2005; http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_08_07/en/index.html). These include the largest Ebolavirus outbreak yet recorded (425 cases, 83% mortality), centered on Gulu in Uganda in 2000-2001, where initial cases again passed undetected and transmission was amplified within hospitals (WHO, 2001;Okware et al, 2002), the Marburgvirus outbreak around Durba in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998-2000, where many of the cases were young men who worked in the local gold mine (the main source of paid employment), and the overall case-fatality rate was 83% (128/154) (WHO, 1999;Bausch et al, 2003), and the 2004-2005 outbreak of Marburgvirus infection in Uige province in Angola (374 cases, 88% mortality), where transmission was amplified by unsafe injections in health care centres, private clinics, and in self-treatment at home (Ndayimirije and Kindhauser, 2005;Peters, 2005; http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_08_24/en/index.html).…”

“…f From WHO (1999) and Bausch et al (2003). g From Ndayimirije and Kindhauser (2005), Peters (2005) and http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_08_24/en/index.html. h From Johnson et al (1977), WHO (1978a,b), Bowen et al (1980) and Richmond et al (1983).…”

Conflits et maladies infectieuses émergentes

“…On peut ajouter les conditions d'obsèques et l'hygiène défec-tueuse des maisons. Ce sont des conditions comparables qui expliquent la maladie de Marburg en Angola (374 cas, mortalité de 89 %) [6]. Le rôle du personnel de soins est là particulièrement évident, par l'usage multiple des mêmes aiguilles et seringues avec des ampoules multi-doses.…”