Marburg outbreaks in Rwanda drive health authorities in Tanzania to take initial preventive measures

Eight deaths

With the disease claiming eight lives so far, Rwandan health authorities have confirmed the outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease in the country.

Meanwhile Tanzania, across the border, is also intensifying control efforts against possible outbreaks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) quoting authorities in Kigali is reporting here that cases of the virus have been detected in a total of seven of the 30 districts of Rwanda as of the first week of October 2024.

 Following the detection of Marburg virus in Rwanda and Monkey pox in Uganda and DR Congo, many of the East African countries are taking serious interventions against the spread of the diseases.

Marburg virus disease (MVD), formerly known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.

According to the World Health Organization, the Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes hemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88 percent.

Health experts say Marburg is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola infectious disease.

It is being revealed that illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise.

Many patients later develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms that occur within seven days. 

The Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.

The dangerous part of the development is that there is currently no available treatment or vaccine for this disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on the other hand, assesses the risk of this outbreak as very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global levels.

The World Health Organization (WHO) rates Marburg as a Risk Group 4 Pathogen.

Experts admit that details of the initial transmission of Marburg Virus Disease to people remain incompletely understood.

But it is believed that transmission most likely starts from Egyptian fruit bats or another natural host, such as non-human primates or through the consumption of bush meat.

However, the specific routes and body fluids involved are unknown.

Meanwhile human-to-human transmission of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) occurs through direct contact with infected bodily fluids such as blood.