The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an advisory this week regarding the Marburg virus, a cousin of Ebola, alerting public health and the nursing community in the United States.
• Read also: 14 things to know regarding the Marburg virus, which killed 20 people in Equatorial Guinea
To date, Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea have reported outbreaks of the disease on their territory. Studies to this effect indicate that contact with wild animals is the cause of these cases.
Although no cases have yet been reported in Canada and the United States, the CDC is trying to raise awareness of this risk.
“The current risk of case discovery in the United States is low; however, clinicians and infectious disease specialists should remain alert to the possibility of imported cases,” the CDC said in a statement, as reported by FOX News.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease might spread and cause an epidemic, a serious situation given the high mortality rate of those affected.
Of the eight cases reported in Tanzania, five people have died. This number increases to 10 out of 14 cases, in Equatorial Guinea.
The first outbreak occurred on February 13.
Transmission of the virus is not through aerosols, but rather through infected blood or other bodily fluids.
Symptoms include headache, exhaustion, fever, bleeding, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Experts recommend an incubation period of 21 days.
