Marburg fever death toll reaches 335

In Angola, the nightmarish mini-epidemic of Marburg hemorrhagic fever continues. Currently batting .840, the virus has sickened 399 and killed 335, mostly in Uige Province. For health workers, the goal is containment, and cross-cultural education:

New cases are...continuing to occur with no known link to a previous case, suggesting that the surveillance system [is not yet working well.]

Local and international staff have continued to identify cultural practices that create opportunities for exposure to the virus and thus allow the outbreak to continue. Most recently, around 200 traditional healers have been trained in ways to reduce risks to themselves and their clients and given masks and gloves. To date, at least two traditional healers have died of Marburg haemorrhagic fever.

Update 07 Jun 2005: Researchers believe their successful tests of a Marburg/Ebola vaccine on macaque monkeys will translate into an effective human vaccine against the diseases.