Nine dead as Ebola spreads to Pakistan NINE people have died in Pakistan from the Ebola virus and at least three others are sick in the first outbreak of the disease outside Africa.

The highly infectious disease - that has symptoms similar to typhoid and malaria, but which causes massive internal bleeding and death in as little as two days - has been identified in Karachi, home to 10 million people. Experts fear that more cases may have been misdiagnosed and have warned that a massive campaign is needed to stop it spreading. Ahmed Rashid, Lahore

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000252141601804&rtmo=psBIhpbe&atmo=99999999&pg=/et/00/12/1/wbul01.html#go2

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 02, 2000

Answers

FRIDAY DECEMBER 01 2000 Deadly Ebola claims four more lives The deadly Ebola virus continues to claim lives nearly two months after the outbreak was identified in Uganda, with another two deaths announced today.

Dr Alex Opio of Uganda's Health Ministry Disease Control Unit said: "Ebola is still with us, and we do call upon the public to be very active and take preventative measures to curtail its spread.

"There is no room for complacency, and people must work very hard to protect themselves against the epidemic."

Dr Opio said four more cases of the virus had been identified, raising the number of deaths to 154 and those infected to 370.

Two deaths and a new case were reported in Gulu, 360km north of Kampala, where the outbreak was first confirmed on October 14. Another two deaths and another new case were reported in Masindi, 125km to the south.

Dr Opio said no new deaths or cases had been recorded in the past 24 hours in Mbarara, in southwestern Uganda, the third area to be infected.

The Government has been advising people in affected areas to avoid lingering at burial sites to reduce the chance of contracting the virus.

The fever caused by the Ebola virus is transmitted through body fluids. The disease can cause severe internal bleeding and is often fatal, but victims aggressively treated with rehydration fluids stand a better chance of survival.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,44886,00.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 02, 2000.

01/12/2000 12:16 - (SA)

Seven new cases of Ebola

Kampala, Uganda - Despite attempts to contain an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Uganda, officials on said Thursday six new cases have been confirmed in the third area struck by the deadly fever and a seventh in the northern town where it was first identified in mid-October.

Health services general director Francis Omaswa said in a statement that 368 cases of Ebola virus have now been identified since 14 October, and three deaths in the past 48 hours have raised the death toll to 152.

"In Masindi district, there are six new confirmed cases with zero deaths, bringing the cumulative total (in the area) to 14 cases with five deaths," Omaswa said. "Health education and active case searches have been intensified in the district."

In early November, a woman who was diagnosed in the northern town of Gulu with Ebola fever fled to her home village in Masindi district 125km to the south. Her husband, daughter and another relative were all infected, and all four later died. The others in the area who have been infected are all believed to have had contact with the woman or attended her funeral.

Traditional funerals in many parts of Uganda involve washing the body of the deceased. Mourners later dip their hands in the water as a symbol of solidarity.

The government has been advising people in affected areas to avoid cultural activities, including lingering at burial sites, to reduce chances of contracting the virus.

Omaswa said 12 Ebola sufferers remain in Masindi district hospital.

The fever caused by the Ebola virus is transmitted through body fluids. The disease can cause severe haemorrhagic fever and is often fatal, but victims aggressively treated with rehydration fluids stand a better chances of survival.

There is no known cure, but researchers have indicted some success in vaccinating macaque monkeys against the virus, according to a report published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

The findings mark the first time an Ebola vaccine has worked in primates, said Dr Gary Nabel, director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health in the United States and author of the study

http://news.24.com/News24/Africa/Central_Africa/0,1113,2-11- 39_948506,00.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 02, 2000.