Marburg fears in Zim
2005-04-16 11:14
Harare - Zimbabwe is urging public hospitals and border officials to take "appropriate measures" following the outbreak of the deadly Ebola-like Marburg virus that has claimed more than 200 lives in Angola, an official said on Friday.
"We have alerted our institutions in all the provinces that they should take appropriate measures so that we avoid having the virus in the country," Health Ministry spokesperson Bright Mpofu said.
"We have advised officials to tighten the screening process at all entry points so that suspected cases are quarantined and we are now in the process of alerting the public through various media."
Mpofu appealed to all Zimbabweans be vigilant in the face of the threat posed by the deadly virus.
"It's not the responsibility of the government alone to protect our citizens," he said. "It is everyone's responsibility."
Zimbabwe has not recorded any case of the deadly virus.
The Marburg virus, whose exact origin is unknown and for which there is no cure, spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as blood, excrement, vomit, saliva, sweat and tears, but can be contained with relatively simple hygienic precautions, according to experts.
The outbreak in Angola has overtaken an earlier outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the largest ever recorded of the virus, first detected in 1967 when German laboratory workers in Marburg, were infected by monkeys from Uganda. - AFP
- SAPA