The Angolan government has called for more overseas assistance to tackle an epidemic of the deadly Marburg virus, which has claimed 119 lives out of the 127 cases registered in the southwestern African country by Wednesday.

Angolan Deputy Health Minister Jose Van-Dunem told Luanda-based foreign diplomats that "Angola needs support from the international community in logistics, human resources and transport to contain this virus."

A similar appeal was made by Amilcar Tanouari of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the few laboratories equipped to monitor the outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in the province of Uige, 150 km northeast of Luanda.

"The international community must help Angola," he said, stressing that the most useful aid at the moment to embattled health services was "disposable medical supplies to prevent transmission of the virus."

The World Health Organization and the Angolan government are coordinating measures by foreign-backed medical teams to contain the deadly virus in Uige.

The Marburg virus was first identified in 1967. Several African countries including South Africa and Kenya have also experienced the epidemic.

Three-quarters of the deaths in Angola have been children under the age of five, according to the WHO, but the virus has also started to claim adult victims since it erupted in October in Uige province and began rapidly spreading in February.

Source: Xinhua