Marburg virus outbreak: Why experts are concerned

The latest outbreak of the Marburg virus, one of the deadliest diseases known to man, has experts worried. Here’s why.

The World Health Organisation has held an “urgent” meeting amid an outbreak in Africa of the Marburg virus, one of the deadliest diseases known to man.

The health body brought experts from around the world together to discuss how to ramp up the development of vaccines and therapeutics for Marburg virus.

So far, Equatorial Guinea has reported 25 suspected cases, including nine deaths.

So, what is the Marburg virus and how could it impact the world?

Health workers use gloves and protective clothing when treating Marburg patients.

WHAT IS THE MARBURG VIRUS?

The Marburg virus was named after the German city of Marburg, where most of the more than 30 cases in the 1967 epidemic were documented.

It is a highly virulent disease that causes haemorrhagic fever and is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola, BNO NEWS reports.

The currently untreatable infection kills up to 88 per cent of the people it infects.

Illness begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise.

Human-to-human transmission is possible through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces and materials.

WHY ARE EXPERTS CONCERNED?

Equatorial Guinea, an authoritarian country, has no experience fighting outbreaks, The Telegraph reports.

“Marburg is always very serious and we’re very concerned, Professor Jimmy Whitworth, a specialist in infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Telegraph. “The fact it’s close to international borders is a concern.”

Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Picture: AFP

WHEN WAS THE VIRUS DETECTED?

The outbreak was first detected last Tuesday, affecting people who went to a funeral in the Kie-Ntem province, which borders Cameroon and Gabon. It prompted a local lockdown and restrictions along the border with Cameroon.

One of the eight samples sent to the Institut Pasteur laboratory in Senegal tested positive for Marburg virus, the World Health Organisation said. The other results were not yet known. The samples were negative for Ebola, Lassa, Dengue and Yellow Fever.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

The symptoms of the cases in Equatorial Guinea include nose bleeds, fever, fatigue, joint pain and bloodstained vomit and diarrhoea.

The currently untreatable virus kills up to 88 per cent of the people it infects. Picture: Wikimedia Commons

WHAT IS THE WHO SAYING?

“Marburg is highly infectious,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa.

“Thanks to the rapid and decisive action by the Equatorial Guinean authorities in confirming the disease, emergency response can get to full steam quickly so that we save lives and halt the virus as soon as possible.”

The WHO is deploying epidemiologists and infection prevention measures.

HAS THE VIRUS BEEN REPORTED BEFORE?

Only a few cases of Marburg were reported during the past 10 years.

The current outbreak in Equatorial Guinea appears to be the biggest one since at least 2012, BNO News reports.

The biggest outbreak happened in Angola in 2004-05, killing 227 out of 252 cases.