Marburg virus disease
Marburg virus returns to West Africa, as Equatorial Guinea confirms first case
West African nation of Equatorial Guinea has confirmed its first outbreak of the Marburg virus, a highly infectious and deadly disease similar to Ebola, following the deaths of at least nine people.
Equatorial Guinea becomes the second country in the sub-region after Ghana to report the disease. However, Ghana was the first to report the outbreak, last year, but has since announced ending the infection.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which confirmed Equatorial Guinea outbreak, Monday, said the country has already quarantined more than 200 people and restricted movement last week in its Kie-Ntem province after detecting an unknown hemorrhagic fever.
Nine people have died from haemorrhagic fever, and there are a further 16 suspected cases in the eastern Kie Ntem province, where the disease has never previously been recorded.
Report says the deaths have been preliminarily linked to a funeral ceremony, with four of the victims’ members of the same family.
Neighboring Cameroon also restricted movement along its border over concerns about contagion.
”In addition to the nine deaths, Equatorial Guinea has reported 16 suspected cases of Marburg virus with symptoms including fever, fatigue and blood-stained vomit and diarrhea,” the WHO said.
”Marburg virus disease can have a fatality rate of up to 88%.. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat it.”
The deaths have been preliminarily linked to a funeral ceremony in the Kie-Ntem province’s Nsok Nsomo district, Equatorial Guinea Health Minister Mitoha Ondo’o Ayekaba said on Friday.
Local health authorities initially reported an unknown illness causing hemorrhagic fever cases on Feb. 7, and sent samples to a laboratory in Senegal that was able to confirm one as positive for Marburg virus disease, the WHO said. It said the teams are conducting contact tracing and isolating and treating suspected cases.
“Thanks to the rapid and decisive action by the Equatorial Guinean authorities in confirming the disease, emergency response can get to full steam quickly,” the WHO regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti said in the statement.
Meanwhile, WHO has announced that it will hold an emergency meeting on the outbreak of the Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea.
The Marburg virus is believed to be transmitted to people from fruit bats and, like ebola, spreads between humans through the transmission of bodily fluids.
