Ebola-like virus kills 73 in Congo gold mineUpdated 3:52 PM ET September 10, 1999KINSHASA, Congo (Reuters) - An ebola-like virus festering in a Congolese gold mine has killed 73 people, health officials said Friday.
"There are dead rats, bats and even human bodies decomposing in these mines," Floribond Tshoko, an epidemiologist of the World Health Organization (WHO), told Reuters.
The 73 have died from hemorrhagic fever -- which causes massive internal bleeding -- believed to have been caused by the Marburg Virus.
Marburg is one of four virulent viruses that cause hemorrhagic fever. Ebola, another of the four, is highly infectious and causes bleeding through the mouth and skin.
The fever has killed 73 of 88 people affected in Durba in the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Officials said it was probably caused by conditions in the mine.
Tshoko said measures should be taken to close down the mines, as three-quarters of the 88 suspected cases registered since November 1998 were gold diggers who entered the mines illegally without protective equipment.
The disease has taken on epidemic proportions since May, the health officials said.
In August, seven suspected cases of hemorrhagic fever were detected in Durba. Three were gold diggers and one was a Ugandan soldier who had been in the mines. Ugandan troops are backing rebels against the government of President Laurent Kabila.
Tshoko said the Marburg Virus had been firmly identified in only eight of the 88 known cases.
The gold mines in Durba are jointly owned by the state Office des Mines de Kilomoto and the Canadian gold mining company Barrick Gold Corp.
Barrick pulled out of the operations in Durba when a war between Tutsi-led rebels and the government broke out in August 1998.
"The government has to take the measures to close the mines, but the war situation has made that impossible," Tshoko said.
The area continues to be controlled by rebels and it is unclear who would have the authority to close down the mines.
A plane belonging to Medecins Sans Frontieres flew to Durba Friday to collect blood samples taken from the latest victims.
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