The death toll from an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in Angola has reached 146, media reports quoted health authorities in the southwest African country as saying Sunday. In total around 157 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, that was first detected last October in the northern Uige province near the country's border with Congo. Congo experienced an outbreak of the virus in the late 1990s that claimed some 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 were meanwhile assisting the Angolan government in trying to bring the outbreak under control.
