The outbreak of Marburg virus in Angola is growing at a great clip, with the new cases being found quicker than the old cases can die.
People are beginning to wonder if the virus hasn't done a little recombining with its fellow filovirus, Ebola. Angola was not formerly considered to be a hot zone for Marburg.
UPDATE:
This book rocks. There's nothing cooler than a scientist figuring out how to kill some little speck of something that had been killing us for a million years.
Hope they get a handle on this & soon!
I know it's been a bit since I stopped by, so you have permission to KICK my (_)_)... OK? *grins*
Take care... (((hugs)))
Posted by: Cj at April 7, 2005 07:40 PMI know the guys at CDC and elsewhere are working so hard trying to do just that.
It's always good to have you stop by, CJ.
When you beat your way past all the hype, and Dr.
Niman is in the hype business, you find that
remarkably few people have contracted any variant of avian flu. And, you find that the most common result is eye infection.
The WHO site shows that of the 79 variant H5N1 cases in humans in the last 14 months, 49 were fatal. Their FAQ states:
"Is there evidence of efficient human-to-human
transmission now?
No. However, in Thailand, on 27 September 2004 the
Ministry of Health announced possible human-to-human transmission in a family cluster. Thai officials have concluded that the mother could have acquired the infection either from some environmental source or while caring for her daughter, and that this represents a probable case of human-to-human transmission. While the investigation of this family cluster provides evidence that human-to-human transmission may have occurred, evidence to date indicates that transmission of the virus among humans has been limited to family members and that no wider
transmission in the community has occurred. Continued vigilance is needed to determine whether the epidemiological situation in humans remains stable. (published 5.10.04)"
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/avian_faqs/en/#doeshuman
You must understand that there are tens of millions of dollars that the WHO and CDC will spend on this disease. It is in their bureaucratic interest to promote the danger of the disease. Dr. Niman, a respected viral researcher, has created a company, and obtained patents, and the financial future of his business depends on generating interest in the analysis and prediction products he has created.
Go back a bit. There have been 79 confirmed cases
since January 28, 2004. 79. The normal influenza
epidemic we have every year in the United States
killed about 30,000 Americans in that same period.
H5N1 is dangerous, but in a region where health care is poor and people generally are not all that healthy to begin with, ONLY 79 people have been infected and most of them worked directly with poultry.
And, repeating myself. Medical personnel in the United States deal with on-going epidemics every day. HIV, West Nile, Lyme Disease, Dengue Fever, influenza, and all the others. We know how to handle it because we do it every single day already.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins at April 8, 2005 08:30 PMI've not been reading about Avian, so I don't know.
I don't know anything about Niman, either. If he's off the beaten path, thanks for the heads up.
There's hardly anybody covering Marburg, and Marburg is the one that's interesting me.