I wrote earlier about the Ebola virus and its very recent death-rate rise in Congo. Ebola is one of two members of a family of RNA viruses called the Filoviridae. The second of the family is called Marburg. Richard Preston wrote about Ebola and Marburg in his 1994 book, The Hot Zone.
Ebola, this highly infectious bleeding fever, is 80% fatal. Marburg is listed as 23% to 90% fatal. Recent cases (2005) indicate Marburg has a case fatality rate of 93% in Angola, which actually exceeds the Ebola virus.
Now, there is the first Marburg case ever documented in the United States:
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (AP) — The first U.S. case of Marburg hemorrhagic fever has been confirmed in Colorado, and authorities say the patient — who contracted the rare illness while traveling in Uganda — has since recovered.
The incubation period for Marburg is roughly 5 to 10 days.
Where did this person go in those 5 to 10 days? More importantly, where did that person go and with whom did he or she come in contact between the point they were communicable and then subsequently properly diagnosed?
Can anyone say index case?
BZ
P.S.
Related: see USAMRIID link.
