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	va1-sg19016.securesites.net

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Another Marburg case in Uganda after man breaches infected mine

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A Ugandan man tasked with guarding a Marburg virus-infected mine 

crept into the underground [mine] only to be infected with the 

Ebola-like disease, health officials said Tuesday [2 Oct 2007]. The 

mine was closed when the epidemic struck the western area situated in 

a forest reserve, killing one person, but the 58 miners were 

monitored by the health ministry, as were the people they had come in 

contact with.



The epidemic was declared over in early August [2007] but health 

ministry officials said that a man who was guarding the closed mine 

"sneaked" in, contracting the disease and that he is currently under treatment.



Uganda has contained an outbreak of Marburg disease among gold 

miners, but contacts of the 2 known cases must now make sure they 

don't spread the deadly virus through sexual activity, the World 

Health Organisation (WHO) said on Fri 17 Aug 2007.



WHO expert Pierre Formenty said investigators had collected hundreds 

of bats from the mine, which they suspect may be a possible reservoir 

of the disease.



"The mine was closed but one person, purportedly guarding the mine, 

sneaked in quietly and got the problem. We have taken his contacts 

and are tracking down all the other people who may have come to him," 

said Paul Kaggwa, the ministry's spokesman.



Authorities believe the virus might have been transmitted from the 

hundreds of thousands of bats dwelling in the scores of tunnels of 

the mines or from monkeys in a government forest reserve where the 

mines are situated.



The Marburg virus which is similar to but less virulent than Ebola, 

was isolated in 1967 in Germany's Marburg Virus Institute from 

monkeys which were imported from Uganda.



An Ebola outbreak in the Congo has killed 6 people since April [2007].



--



[A major outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever occurred among gold 

miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1998 and 2000, 

causing 128 deaths among 154 cases. An outbreak in Angola in 

2004-2005 killed 150 people among 163 cases, The Uganda outbreak of 

2007 is also associated with a mining community, but has affected 

only a few miners



A miner died on 14 Jul 2007 and another was confirmed 13 Aug 2007 as 

having survived this rare viral hemorrhagic disease. The WHO Weekly 

2007/wer8233/en/index.html>) stated that the mine authorities have 

identified one additional suspected case and 2 individuals who were 

taken ill in mid-June 2007 and have since recovered. Other miners 

under surveillance for Marburg hemorrhagic fever had been at the mine 

for approximately 8 months with no movements outside the mining area 

during that time, but no other cases were detected among miners or 

health care workers at the mine.



This new case (only the 3rd confirmed case) reveals that the virus is 

still lurking in the environment of the mine, but an association with 

bats or monkeys is still conjecture. - Mod.CP]



Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (05)  20070817.2697

Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (04), WHO  20070814.2656

Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (03)  20070810.2609

Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda (02)  20070804.2533

Marburg hemorrhagic fever - Uganda  20070803.2514]

................mpp/cp/ejp/mpp