Marburg virus has popped up again.
For decades they've been looking for the host reservoir and still haven't found it. Scientists have no idea where it comes from, how to prevent it, or how to cure it.
The three to seven-day incubation period is a nightmare in these modern times when people can fly to the other side of the world in a day.
If you ever get a chance to read Laurie Garrett's book "The Coming Plague", do so. Her chapter on Marburg is excellent. It not only tells the story of the virus itself, but also details the very human story of those people in 1967 in Marburg, Germany who were dealing with not only a deadly disease making its world debut, but also the first of an entirely new family of viruses.
Posted by floridacracker at March 29, 2005 10:28 AM