The death toll from an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in Angola has reached 150, media reports quoted health authorities in the south-west African country as saying on Sunday.
About 163 cases have been recorded of the virus that, like the Ebola virus, causes massive internal bleeding that results in death, radio reports in South Africa said.
The number of cases has risen dramatically in recent weeks as the virus, which was first detected last October in the northern Uige province near the country’s border with Congo, spread through Angola.
Congo experienced an outbreak of the virus in the late 1990s that claimed about 120 lives.
Health authorities in neighbouring countries, including South Africa, issued alerts last week, warning against non-essential travel to Angola in the wake of the outbreak.
Medical experts from around the world are meanwhile assisting the Angolan government in trying to bring the outbreak under control. — Sapa-DPA