Officials review fight against Marburg virus

Angolan and Congolese medical officials, as well as representatives of two UN agencies, have reviewed ways to stop the spread of the deadly Marburg virus across their borders. "As neighbouring countries, we need to continue working together, exchanging ideas and information in order to overcome this epidemic," the officials said on Friday at the ROC border town of Masabi. The officials, who included representatives of the UN Children's Fund and the UN World Health Organization, discussed a report on the fight against the haemorrhagic fever, which started in the Angolan province of Uige, killing at least 200 people. It has spread to eight other provinces in Angola. Marburg is an Ebola-like virus transmitted by direct contact with body fluids. Symptoms of the disease include high fever, haemorrhaging, vomiting and diarrhoea, which appear after an incubation period of two to 21 days. There is no known cure or vaccine. The ROC doctors who participated in the Masabi meeting were from the capital, Brazzaville and the commercial port city of Pointe-Noire. They were led by the director-general of health, Dr. Damase Bozongo while the Angolan delegation was led by Dr Francisco Bungo, the chief representative of the health services in Angola's 2nd Region. "We made all necessary provisions in the town of Cabinda [the northern Angola enclave] to stop the spread of this epidemic to neighbouring towns," Bungo said. He added that sensitisation campaigns were being done at in the army, schools, churches and through political parties. Safety measures, including quarantining and testing, had been put in place at the country's airport and ports in order to avoid infections in or out of the country, he said. "When we received the information of a case in Cabinda, we got together with medical authorities of our neighbouring countries in order to stop the spread," Bozongo said. Commenting on the health safety measures so far, the WHO representative in ROC, Dr Adamou Alzouma Yada, said, "Collaboration between these two countries in fighting the virus was a very good initiative." He added that the spread of the disease would be "very dangerous and fast" because of cross-border movement of people. He advised the two governments to improve their communication in order to monitor the virus better. ROC has deployed teams in Pointe-Noire and in the towns of Banga-Ntaka, Kimpessi, Kimongo and Dolisie in the southwestern part of the country to monitor the situation.