Rwanda Reports 8 Deaths Linked To Ebola-Like Marburg Virus Days After It Declared An Outbreak

Kigali, Rwanda – Rwanda reports that eight individuals have died as a result of the Ebola-like and extremely contagious Marburg virus, just days after declaring an outbreak of the fatal hemorrhagic fever for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.

The Marburg virus, like Ebola, originates in fruit bats and spreads to humans by direct contact with infected individuals’ bodily fluids or surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets. Without treatment, Marburg can kill up to 88% of those who become ill with the disease.

Rwanda Reports 8 Deaths Linked To Ebola-Like Marburg Virus Days After It Declared An Outbreak

Rwanda, a landlocked country in central Africa, declared an epidemic on Friday, with the first six deaths confirmed the following day.

So far, 26 cases have been recorded, with eight individuals dying, Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana announced on Sunday night.

To assist slow the spread, the general population has been advised to avoid physical contact. Some 300 people who came into touch with confirmed cases of the virus have also been identified, and an undefined number of them have been placed in isolation facilities.

The majority of those afflicted are healthcare workers from six of the country’s 30 districts.

“Marburg is a rare disease,” Nsanzimana said journalists. “We are intensifying contact tracing and testing to help stop the spread.”

The minister stated that the source of the ailment has not yet been discovered. He noted that it can take three days to three weeks for a person infected with the virus to develop symptoms.

Symptoms include fever, muscle cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting, and, in some cases, death due to severe blood loss.

The World Health Organisation is increasing its assistance and will collaborate with Rwandan authorities to help stem the spread, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday on the social networking site X.

The US Embassy in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, has asked its employees to work remotely and avoid visiting premises.

Rwanda Reports 8 Deaths Linked To Ebola-Like Marburg Virus Days After It Declared An Outbreak

Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have previously been reported in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Ghana, according to the WHO.

The unusual virus was initially identified in 1967, when it produced disease outbreaks in laboratories in Marburg, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven humans died after being infected with the virus while performing research on monkeys.

Separately, Rwanda has recorded six cases of mpox, a disease caused by a smallpox-related virus that normally produces milder symptoms. Mpox, previously known as monkeypox since it was first discovered in laboratory monkeys, has already spread to numerous other African countries, causing the World Health Organisation to declare a global health emergency.

Rwanda initiated an mpox immunisation campaign earlier this month, and further vaccines are scheduled to arrive. The majority of mpox cases have been reported in neighbouring Congo, which is in the epicentre of the problem.

SOURCE | AP