Marburg outbreak worst recorded

BBC NEWS | Africa: "The Marburg virus, the Ebola-like bug, has claimed nine more victims in Angola this week making it now the worst ever recorded, health officials say. The number of deaths from the disease, which has no cure, since the start of the outbreak in October, stands at 126. The toll now exceeds the previous worst outbreak recorded in Angola's neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1998, when 123 died.

Early symptoms of Marburg are diarrhoea, stomach pains, nausea and vomiting, which give way to bleeding. The WHO said most of the Angolan deaths occurred between three and seven days after the onset of symptoms. Marburg, a severe form of hemorrhagic fever, has no known vaccine or medical treatment.

Three-quarters of Marburg's victims have been children, according to the WHO. The infection was first identified in 1967 among laboratory workers in Europe who had been working with monkeys. "