Vaccine for Marburg virus passes monkey test
Lethal hemorrhagic virus might be stoppable, even after exposure
By Nathan Seppa
A devastating tropical virus that has no cure can be ambushed by vaccination a day or two after exposure, tests in monkeys show. The findings suggest that African villagers, health officials and laboratory workers who come into contact with the deadly Marburg virus will someday have recourse to fend it off. The report appears in the July Emerging Infectious Diseases.
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Marburg virus is related to Ebola virus. Both cause hemorrhagic fevers — in severe cases leading to shock, delirium and organ failure — and have high mortality rates in humans. This week, the World Health Organization reported five cases of hemorrhagic fever, three of them fatal, among hunters in the Republic of Congo’s remote north.
In recent decades cases of Marburg virus have shown up in Uganda, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Angola, sometimes spreading to other countries via infected travelers.