Description of the situation
28 May 1999
Disease Outbreak Reported
The results of additional testing by the National Institute for Virology (South Africa), now confirm 5 cases of Marburg fever. Samples from 10 suspected cases have been collected and tested. Three confirmed cases had been reported previously. The two additional cases died on 1 May and 14 May 1999.
An active surveillance system is in place and selected staff from the coordination committee* remain on-site to monitor events.
* The coordination committee is composed of experts from: the Ministry of Health and local health authorities; WHO headquarters and the African Region; UNDP; Médecins sans frontières (Belgium and Holland); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (United States); Institut Pasteur (France, French Guiana and Madagascar); Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium). The ecological team is composed of experts from: the National Institute for Virology (South Africa) and the Pest Infection Laboratory (Denmark).
Please see previous reports about this outbreak: 20 May 1999; 18 May 1999; 17 May 1999; 12 May 1999; 10 May 1999; 6 May 1999; 5 May 1999; 30 April 1999.