Life goes on at epicentre of Marburg outbreak

Residents of Angola's northern Uige province, the epicentre of a haemorrhagic fever outbreak that has killed more than 150 people, are trying as best they can to get on with their lives despite living under the shadow of the epidemic. Teca Garcia, the resident programme officer in Uige for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told IRIN that the horror that enveloped the provincial capital in the days after the Marburg virus was identified had eased as the local population learnt more about the bug. "There is still a lot of fear among the people, but the panic has to some extent passed, thanks to the social mobilisation officers getting information to the people," he said in a telephone interview from the provincial capital, also called Uige. "There are people in the streets, in shops and at work; they are walking around - they are very quiet, but they are going about their daily lives," he said. Terrified that they might catch the disease just by breathing the Uige air, some residents had taken to wearing masks, fuelling the atmosphere of panic. But Garcia said this alarmist behaviour had stopped after intensive campaigns to spell out the exact facts of the disease: how it is spread, and how to prevent contamination. "The masks are now confined to the hospital. People are not wandering around the streets wearing them - this is not the situation," he said. With the challenge now to actively survey the municipalities for cases of the disease and corpses, it was common to see those in charge of surveillance and removing bodies wearing masks, gloves and protective suits. But these workers were moving discreetly from their vehicles to hospitals and morgues, and not parading through the town, Garcia said. Marburg is an Ebola-like virus that spreads on contact with body fluids, such as blood, urine, excrement, vomit and saliva. There is no known cure. The Angolan epidemic, which has steadily escalated since October, is the world's worst, with 156 deaths from 181 cases. The previous record was in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where an outbreak in 1998-2000 claimed 123 lives. Garcia said the efforts to educate Uige's population had proved effective, but much more needed to be done. Conveying the hard facts of the disease, while remaining sensitive to traditional customs, burial rights and even views on witchcraft, required a delicate balance. "We need more people on the ground to talk to everyone; to provide information to the people in all 16 municipalities of Uige," Garcia said. "When people know the facts of the disease, it helps a lot in terms of combating its spread - it's a big challenge but it must be tackled," he added. UNICEF's country representative, Mario Ferrari, said earlier this week that his agency was spearheading a nationwide poster, pamphlet, TV and radio campaign to inform the Angolan public at large about the virus, its symptoms and prevention methods. Garcia and his UNICEF colleagues in Uige, who assist the social mobilisation units by collecting and providing information from various communities in the area, are also taking their own personal precautions, in line with the stringent health and hygiene guidelines laid down by the Angolan Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation. "We are taking special care with the preparation of food, and we're using bleach in our water for drinking, washing and household cleaning. We're not wearing protective clothing because we don't go into the isolation ward, but we are doubling our hygiene efforts," he said. UN staff in the province have also been told to avoid physical contact with people in general, particularly those in health facilities. For Garcia, who is still extremely concerned about the situation, working in Uige during this difficult time is tough, tiring and stressful. "Personally speaking, we [humanitarian workers] have all had to adapt to the situation, and we also feel a lot better now that we are well-informed of the facts," he said. "I'm coping now with the situation. Now is not the right time to leave Uige - our work is crucial to helping other actors in the field."