The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the risk of Marburg virus, a hemorrhagic fever that is nearly as deadly as Ebolais “very high”, in the middle of a deadly wave in Africa, with an epicenter in Equatorial Guinea.
The virus, which has a fatality rate ranging from 25 to 90 percent, has spread from Equatorial Guinea’s rural districts to more densely populated areas and major transportation hubs, raising the risk of further transmission. However, the WHO says that, for the moment, “Global risk is low.”
Seven people died in the outbreak Equatorial Guineawith another 20 deaths”probably” due to fever. The epidemic of the disease is currently spreading beyond Kie-Ntem province, where it caused the first known deaths in January.
The cases in the last week were reported from Kie-Ntem in the east, and the epidemic is now a serious problem in three of the four continental provinces of Equatorial Guineaall of which have borders with Cameroon and Gabon.
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In addition, at least four cases were registered in the country’s commercial capital, Bata, a major cargo port city of some 200,000 people from where international flights take off and arrive in neighboring countries.
In Tanzania, where 8 cases and 5 deaths have been registered since March 1, the national risk of contracting the virus is “very high”, while the subregional risk is “high” and the regional risk is “moderate,” the WHO said.
There, health officials traced at least 160 people believed to have had contact with those infected. The cases are in the northern city of Bukoba, Kagera province, which is home to 120,000 people.
Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu called on citizens to remain calm “as the government managed to control the spread of the disease.” “There is no need to panic or stop economic activities as Tanzania is not the first. We have everything we need to control the disease,” she said.
In Kenya, the government took steps to increase surveillance and strengthen testing infrastructure along the borders with Uganda and Tanzania. Meanwhile, Uganda, just north of Tanzania, declared “high alert” and ordered tests at the border points of Kasensero and Mutukula.
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Emmanuel Ainebyoona, spokesman for the Uganda Ministry of Health, where five deaths were detected: “The Ministry of Health is ready on high alert. Risk assessments are being carried out in the area. We are also doing targeted communication in the area.”
The spread of Marburg in Africa “It is a critical signal to scale up response efforts to quickly stop the chain of transmission and prevent a potential large-scale outbreak and loss of life.”said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
Since the start of the outbreak, “there have been a total of nine laboratory-confirmed cases and 20 probable cases,” the WHO said in a report on its website. “Of the nine laboratory-confirmed cases, seven people have died and all probable cases died.”
Among the 20 probable cases, the patients had all the symptoms of the disease and had been in contact with confirmed cases, but samples might not be taken from their bodies, or they might not be treated, a WHO official said on April 23. March.
Marburg virus: a very lethal hemorrhagic fever
The Marburg virus causes high fever, severe headache, muscle aches and pains, abdominal pain and cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.
The virus is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people, surfaces, and materials. Contaminated clothing and bedding are a risk, as are burial ceremonies that involve direct contact with the deceased.
Symptoms appear abruptlybeginning with signs of disease that resemble others such as malaria, typhoid fever, or dengue fever, making the disease difficult to diagnose at first.
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Over the days, patients take on a sunken, almost ghostly appearance, with gaunt features. Because of the bleeding it causes in multiple organs of the body, in the later stages of the disease the patient may begin to bleeding from the nose, gums, ears, eyes, anus, and vagina.
The virus takes its name from the German city of Marburg, where it was first identified in 1967., in a laboratory where workers had been in contact with infected vervet monkeys imported from Uganda. Then cases arose in Belgrade, Frankfurt and, unsurprisingly, Marburg.
The simultaneous outbreaks originated from scientific investigations involving vervet monkeys imported from Uganda to a laboratory in Marburg. Personnel became infected through contact with the blood, tissues, and cells of carrier monkeys. Of the 31 cases related to this laboratory-acquired infection, seven died.
The African fruit bat, origin of the virus
The virus is part of the so-called filovirus family, which also includes Ebola.which wreaked havoc in several previous outbreaks in Africa, and the suspected natural source of the virus is the African fruit bat (frugivores), which carries the pathogen but does not become ill from it and can transmit it to humans through its feces.
In fact, most natural Marburg virus outbreaks have been linked to human entry into bat-infested mines and caves, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
On the other hand, animals can transmit the virus to primates in close proximity, including humans, and person-to-person transmission occurs through contact with blood or other bodily fluids.
The virus is endemic in areas of central Africa, including Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.. It also arose earlier in Kenya.
Death rates in confirmed cases have ranged from 24 percent to 88 percent in previous outbreaks, depending on the virus strain and case management, according to the WHO.
At the moment there are no vaccines or antiviral treatmentsbut potential treatments are being evaluated, including blood products, immune therapies, and drug therapies, as well as early candidate vaccines.
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