KAMPALA, Uganda - An outbreak of a deadly Ebola-like disease at a mine in western Uganda has been contained, health officials said Thursday.
The Marburg virus, a rare hemorrhagic illness, killed a 29-year-old last month. The country had not seen a Marburg outbreak for 30 years.
Health Minister Dr. Stephen Mallinga said the 21-day maximum incubation period has passed with no new cases reported.
"Theoretically the transmission chain has been broken, the transmission has been stopped and the outbreak contained," he said.
The disease has a death rate that can be higher than 90 percent and no treatment or vaccine. Marburg can cause headaches, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. In severe cases, the central nervous system is attacked, and patients may bleed from the eyes, ears and elsewhere.
Since Marburg was first identified in 1967, large outbreaks have been reported in Congo, Angola and elsewhere.
Virus hunters swathed in protective gear plan to enter the lead and gold mine in Uganda to search for bats they believe may be the source of the latest outbreak. The medical investigators will take blood samples to look for antibodies of the Marburg virus, before killing the animals and removing their livers and spleens.
Scientists are not sure how the virus is transmitted to humans, but believe people may become infected by being bitten by bats or by insects or other animals that have been infected by bats. Another possibility is that people catch it by breathing in air carrying virus particles from bat feces.
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"As a weapon - The former Soviet Union reportedly had a large biological weapons program involving Marburg. The development was conducted in Vector Institute under leadership of Dr. Ustinov who accidentally died from the virus. The samples of Marburg taken from Ustinov's organs were more powerful than the original strain. New strain called "Variant U" had been successfully weaponized and approved by Soviet Ministry of Defense in 1990. [7] United States bioterrorism grants are funding the research to develop vaccine for Marburg virus.[8]"
No doubt the US biowarfare arsenal already has a weaponized Marburg virus. It is interesting that these "outbreaks" seem most likely to happen in the regions of Africa where plans are being made to exploit natural resources.