Rare, Ebola-like disease strikes Angola, kills 96 of 107 victims

• Described as "very virulent" and "very contagious" and transmitted through bodily fluids, the haemorrhagic fever threatens to spread from the northern Uige province to other parts of the country.
• The incubation period is 21 days so we must reinforce the surveillance in neighbouring provinces and especially in Luanda," Vice Minister for Health Jose Van Dunem said.
• About 107 people in Uige have fallen victim to Marburg, for which there is no cure, with the number of deaths attributed to the epidemic now standing at 96.
• Experts last week ruled out Ebola -- one of the world's deadliest diseases -- but had not yet pinpointed the disease that struck in Uige, about 225km north of Luanda.
• With a health infrastructure shattered by a devastating civil war, Angola is facing monumental challenges trying to combat the virus.
• "The mortality rate is around 30 per cent in good hospitals.
• In hospitals like ours in Uige where the quality is not so high we have a higher (rate of) mortality," Mr Van Dunem said.
• "We are trying to do our best by using our national capacity and asking for international support."
• The World Health Organisation and Atlanta's Centre for Disease Control (CDC), which diagnosed the virus, have sent in experts, and medical non-governmental organisations have also given their support, he said.
• Portugal has already warned its nationals not to travel to Uige but Mr Van Dunem said the Angolan Government would not issue similar warnings.
• If you don't touch an infected person, you don't risk being contaminated.
• So it doesn't make sense to (stop) a person from going there," he said.
• The Marburg virus is characterised by high fever, headaches, nausea, with vomiting and diarrhoea accompanied by blood.
• Most of the dead are children under five.