According to the World Health Organization, mortality rates among those infected with Marburg virus range from 24 to 88%, according to previous outbreaks.
Marburg virus was first transmitted to people from bats in Africa, where miners and cave workers infected it.
Although this virus is not transmitted through the air, it spreads quickly through direct contact between people, especially those associated with fluids such as blood, saliva or urine, and even the bodies of infected people can remain infectious upon burial.
Scientists first identified this virus in 1967, when it spread among laboratory workers in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in Belgrade, while conducting research on animals imported from Uganda.
According to the World Health Organization, the incubation period for infection with the virus is estimated between three to nine days, and its symptoms begin with a severe headache, severe malaise, and muscle pain, which include the following:
High fever, gradual and rapid weakness, severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting that can last a week.
Skin rash, hemorrhagic symptoms, with blood in the vomit and stool, and bleeding through the nose, gums, and vagina. The persistence of infection leads to injury to the nervous system. In fatal cases, death occurs on the eighth or ninth day.
The Mayo Clinic website states that prevention in general from “hemorrhagic fever” associated with viruses such as Marburg or Ebola may be difficult if you live in or travel to areas where these diseases are common.
And you should use protective measures when dealing with any body fluids, by wearing gloves and eye and face protection.
You should also avoid insects, especially mosquitoes and ticks, and you should wear long pants and long sleeves, and use mosquito protection.
You should also keep rodents out of your home by placing rubbish in rodent-proof containers, disposing of waste regularly, and ensuring that doors and windows have insect screens.
No vaccine or drug has been approved to treat Marburg virus yet, and infected people receive supportive care and treatments for complications and dehydration that improve survival rates, according to the World Health Organization.
Some public health experts recommend the use of drugs used to treat Ebola infection, but so far no clinical trials have proven this.
