One of the world’s deadliest diseases has spread to another African country for the first time.
The Marburg virus – which kills 90 percent of patients and has no cure – has killed five people in Tanzania, including a health worker, while three more patients are being treated in hospital.
The falls are in the northern city of Bukoba in Kagera province, which is home to 120,000 people. More than a hundred residents who feared they had been exposed to the virus are now under surveillance.
Marburg – an Ebola-like disease that causes fever, vomiting and profuse bleeding from the eyeballs, nose and gums – is endemic to parts of central Africa, including Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has also previously appeared in Kenya.
But the new outbreak comes barely a month after Marburg virus first hit Equatorial Guinea on the other side of the continent.
The map above shows where Marburg virus is endemic (red) and the two countries where it was first detected this year (yellow). It also shows the provinces of those countries where they were discovered (bright yellow).
The Marburg virus has an incubation period of up to 21 days. The virus attacks the kidney and spleen, causing blood clots and inflammation throughout the body. Symptoms can be very serious, such as skin rash, eye bleeding and delirium. A high percentage of cases result in death and even survivors suffer permanent damage. Pictured: Ebola patients belonging to the same virus family as Marburg
Five of the eight patients in the north of the country have died.
The cases were diagnosed after tests carried out at the country’s main laboratory in the capital, Dar es Salaam.
A rapid response team with staff from the World Health Organization has now been deployed to contain the outbreak.
It is not clear how the patients were infected, but Marburg virus can be transmitted through contact with a patient’s blood or fluid.
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Marburg, one of the deadliest pathogens ever discovered, has already killed nine in Equatorial Guinea and another five in Tanzania.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa, said: “We are working with the government to rapidly scale up control measures to stop the spread of the virus and end the outbreak as soon as possible.
“Lessons learned and progress made in other recent outbreaks should benefit the country in this latest challenge.”
Moeti said that although Tanzania had not previously dealt with Marburg, it had recently faced a number of health emergencies, including Covid, cholera and dengue fever.
Marburg virus has been touted as the next major pandemic threat, with the WHO calling it “epidemic prone”.
It can be spread to humans via fruit bats that live in central Africa, and can also be spread between humans through contact with bodily fluids of an infected person. People can also contract the disease by touching towels or surfaces that have also been in contact with an infected person.
Marburg virus can incubate in people it infects for two to 21 days before causing symptoms.
But warning signs, when they do break out, initially look like other tropical diseases like Ebola and malaria.
Infected patients become “spooky” and often develop deep-set eyes and expressionless faces.
But in later stages, it causes bleeding from various body openings, including the nose, gums, eyes and vagina.
No vaccines or treatments have been approved for the virus, and doctors must instead rely on drugs to relieve symptoms and fluids to keep patients hydrated.
The outbreak in Tanzania follows weeks after another in Equatorial Guinea on the other side of the continent.
The country’s authorities are keeping a low profile on the situation on the ground, but have not issued an update since late February.
MVD has a mortality rate of up to 90 percent. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments to treat the virus
Marburg virus (MVD) is first transmitted to humans by fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces and materials of infected humans.
However, its latest update said 11 people have died from the virus in a northern province of the country. At least 16 are reported to be infected, while 48 are also under surveillance.
Cases occurred in early January and the last one was said to have become infected at the end of February.
Two villages in the northern region of Kie-Ntem province on the border with Cameroon were hit.
Two children in Cameroon were also suspected of having the Marburg virus, but this was later denied by the country’s health authorities.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
