- The fatality rate of the Marburg virus varies between 24 and 88%.
- Its symptoms are quite similar to those caused by Ebola because they are pathogens of the same family.
- In September 2021, the previous health outbreak of this disease was declared and thus its control was achieved.
The health problems are not over and although control of the Covid-19 pandemic has not been achieved, there are now new concerns. It’s all due to marburg virus and although it has been around for years now the concern is that it has spread to new territories.
As we informed you a few days ago, everything was generated because the government of Ghana announced the finding of two cases and both people have already died. From then on, an investigation began to identify with certainty the causes of death.
Health alert issued due to outbreak
With the help of a laboratory of the Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization (WHO), the presence of the Marburg virus in the victims was confirmed. Therefore, today the government of Ghana decreed a national health alert.
The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal, received samples from each of two patients from the southern Ashanti region of Ghana, both deceased and unrelated. They showed symptoms that included diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting.
The laboratory corroborated the results of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, which suggested that his illness was due tol Marburg virus. One case was a 26-year-old man who was admitted to a hospital on June 26, 2022 and died on June 27. While the second was a 51-year-old man who presented at the hospital on June 28 and died the same day. Both cases sought treatment at the same hospital days apart.
WHO has been supporting a joint national investigation team in the Ashanti region, as well as the Ghanaian health authorities. It has already dispatched experts and made personal protective equipment available, in addition to reinforcing disease surveillance. It also conducts tests, traces contacts, and offers education courses on the risks and dangers of the disease. In addition, a team of WHO experts will be deployed in the coming days to provide coordination, risk assessment and infection prevention measures.
“Health authorities have responded quickly, anticipating the preparation for a possible outbreak. This is a good thing because without immediate and decisive action the Marburg virus outbreak may spiral out of control. WHO supports the health authorities in Ghana,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
So far, more than 90 contacts have been and are being monitored, including health workers and community members.
What is Marburg virus?
It is a highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever of the same family as the best known Ebola virus disease. It is only the second time that this zoonotic disease has been detected in West Africa. The first occasion occurred in Guinea when a case was confirmed in an outbreak that was declared over on September 16, 2021, five weeks after the initial contagion.
Previous outbreaks and sporadic cases of the Marburg virus in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.
This disease is transmitted to people by fruit bats and spreads between humans through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people, surfaces, and materials.
Symptoms and case fatality rate
The illness begins abruptly, with a high fever, severe headache, and general malaise. Many patients develop severe bleeding signs within seven days. Case-fatality rates have ranged from 24% to 88% in previous outbreaks, depending on the virus strain and the quality of case management.
Although there are no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments to treat marburg virussupportive care (rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids) and treatment of specific symptoms improve survival.