Marburg virus infections cause haemorrhage, organ dysfunction, and often death.
Nine people have died from Marburg virus, the deadly Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever, in eastern Equatorial Guinea, a small country in Central Africa that has imposed a quarantine in a province to contain the epidemic, the health minister announced Monday.
Last week, the government announced that it was investigating suspected cases of hemorrhagic fever, who began to show symptoms including fever, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting.
Minister Mitoha Ondo Aikaba said in a press conference that only three people who showed “minor symptoms” of the disease are currently in quarantine in a hospital in this rural area on the borders with Gabon and Cameroon.
He added that the three people “have mild symptoms that are improving positively.”
“Today, Equatorial Guinea is declaring a state of health alert for an outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Qui Ntim province and in (nearby) Mongomo region,” the minister said.
And 20 cases of contact with people infected with the Marburg virus were monitored in two regions near the borders of Cameroon and Gabon.
However, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that there are still no confirmed cases in these two neighboring countries, but the agency is helping to “rapidly detect, isolate and provide care for any suspected cases.”
Last year, Ghana witnessed an outbreak of this disease.
A “isolation plan” was developed in close cooperation with the World Health Organization to “deal with the epidemic” in this region covered in dense tropical forests in the east of the mainland of this country, which also includes two main islands.
The World Health Organization said it will operate flights to send medical supplies and personal protective equipment from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
What is Marburg virus?
Marburg virus disease (MVD), formerly known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a form of viral hemorrhagic fever and is considered to be very severe.
Marburg infection is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and spreads between humans through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or surfaces and materials.
Marburg virus infections cause haemorrhage, organ dysfunction, and often death.
