The Omani Ministry of Health issued an urgent statement regarding the outbreak of the Marburg virus in the Republics of Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea.
Today, Thursday, the statement indicated that the ministry is closely monitoring the disease in these two countries, as it is highly contagious, and the death rate ranges from 60 to 80 percent.
And she called on her citizens not to travel to these two countries except for the most urgent necessity.
It is reported that Marburg virus is the causative agent of Marburg virus disease, which has a case fatality rate of 88%.
The disease was first detected in 1967 following successive outbreaks occurred in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in Belgrade, Serbia, according to the World Health Organization.
The Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) is the natural host of the virus, from which the virus is then transmitted to people.
How does the virus spread?
The virus spreads through its transmission between humans through contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or any other fluids secreted from an infected person (through skin or mucous membrane wounds), and contact with surfaces or materials contaminated with these fluids (such as bed linen and clothes, for example).
Health care workers have previously contracted the disease while caring for confirmed or suspected patients. Burial ceremonies involving contact with the body of the deceased lead to transmission of Marburg virus disease.
High fever and headache
The incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days. Symptoms of the disease caused by the Marburg virus begin suddenly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise.
On the third day, the patient may have severe watery diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramps, nausea and vomiting. Between the fifth and seventh days of onset of symptoms, many patients develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms, and in fatal cases usually there is some form of bleeding, often from multiple sites.
In fatal cases, death most often occurs between the eighth and ninth days of onset of symptoms, and is usually preceded by severe blood loss and shock.
