Luanda, Jul 12 (Prensa Latina) Angolan Health Minister, Sebastiao Veloso, said his country is working hard to prevent the Marburg virus from spreading, although it already seems to be under control in Uige, reportedly the source of the deadly virus outbreak.
Veloso told the press during a visit to a local hospital in this province 250 km from Luanda, that the infection still inflicts fatalities every five or six days, and that the total death count already exceeds 400 in four months, affecting seven provinces.
No case has been reported in the past six days but the standard minimum period before declaring the area technically free of the infection is three weeks.
The Marburg disease shares symptoms with the Ebola virus: high fever, muscle and abdominal cramps, headaches, loss of appetite, diarrhea, vomiting and death caused by hemorrhage.
As there is currently no cure, the only way of controlling it is to isolate the patients.
