World Health Organisation (WHO) teams fighting an outbreak of Marburg virus in Angola were forced to temporarily suspend work in one area after scared residents stoned their vehicles, officials said on Saturday. WHO halted operations in parts of the Uige district in northwestern Angola on Friday following the attacks on Thursday. Residents apparently feared the medics could be spreading the infection that has already claimed 184 lives, some of them health workers. WHO said later on Saturday it had restarted the campaign in Uige, epicentre of the outbreak. Angola's Health Department, releasing the latest death toll figures, said there had been a total of 213 cases, making it the worst outbreak of the disease yet. "Of course it has restarted," Fatomata Diallo, WHO's country representative, said when asked if WHO had since resumed its operations. "In this kind of outbreak control, security is crucial. If we find those kind of problems in all parts of Uige, we will stop (our operation). But it was only in one part of Uige that we found this problem," she said. Diallo said WHO had been in touch with local officials and had received more support to help continue with its work. WHO vehicles carrying 18 staff were attacked and damaged in Uige on Thursday, the WHO said on its Web site. --More 2329 Local Time 2029 GMT
