Canada adds help to contain Marburg virus outbreak

Canada is sending a second medical team to Angola to assist in containing the world's largest outbreak of deadly Marburg virus.

The hemorrhagic fever is like Ebola, and has killed more than 230 people, mostly in northern Angola, although it seems to be spreading outside the urban areas.

In South Africa, authorities tested an airline passenger for Marburg on Thursday, although it appears unlikely he is carrying the virus.

Two Canadian experts returned from the region this week, and described their experience.

The federal government sent its mobile diagnostic lab to the region to help fight the virus by identifying cases. The lab contribution means those who come to an isolation ward can be diagnosed by the end of the day.

Dr. Heinz Feldmann of the Public Health Agency of Canada's laboratory in Winnipeg said one of the main challenges on the ground was that people in Angola were reluctant to trust medical experts.

"They believe in witchcraft," said Feldmann, a virus expert. "They believe in all kinds of things, among those things that we could actually bring the virus to the communities and inject it."

Medical team members were attacked with sticks and stones, but there were no injuries, he said.

The federal government calls the Canadian contribution to the international team an example of the country's commitment to intervene where it can to make the world safer.

Earlier this week, Ottawa promised $20 billion to strengthen Canada's role internationally.

If a similar outbreak were to happen in a place like Sudan, though, Canada's hands would be tied, said Paul Buteux of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba.

"Quite frankly, we'd have to hope that somebody else, and that means somebody big, is prepared to go in, otherwise we would not have the capacity to intervene."