Marburg virus: a viral hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Tanzania revealed by PCR tests on a child with a family of bats
His family and community were unaware that the gathering would become the beginning of a deadly outbreak. Some of the people present started to fall ill. On March 16th, the chief medical officer in Africa announced that an unknown, possibly contagious illness had been found and that a rapid response team would be sent to Bukoba. Finally, five days later, PCR testing at Tanzania’s National Public Health Laboratory revealed the cause: Marburg virus.
Marburg shares plenty of characteristics with Ebola—the viruses are part of the same family. It causes deadly internal bleeding and organ damage when it comes to the problem of viral hemorrhagic fever. In some outbreaks, up to 90 percent of cases have been fatal; at the time of writing, five of the people in Tanzania’s eight confirmed cases have died. Symptoms take anywhere from a few days to three weeks to develop, and the virus can spread through human contact, particularly via body fluids of an infected person or corpse. Fruit-eating bats of the Rousettus family are the virus’s suspected host.
Marburg Virus Outbreaks in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania: A Mediated Warning to Travelers From a World Health Organization Point of View
If you want to develop a vaccine, you don’t have to start from scratch. Several experimental vaccines have shown promise in nonhuman primates, and one from the Sabin Institute has also recently been tested in a small number of humans. It was found to be safe and to stimulate an immune response.
Ring vaccination is a method by which the World Health Organization will start trials of some of the experimental vaccines. The vaccine will be offered to the close contacts of the cases, according to Ana-Maria Henao Restrepo. Depending on the social network of each case, about 20 to 50 people are involved. Researchers can calculate how well the vaccines work with the analysis of how many contacts became infectious after being exposed.
The CDC’s warning says that although there are no cases in the United States and the current risk is low, health care providers should be on the lookout for any imported cases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said providers who suspect someone is sick with Marburg virus should take a detailed travel history. The patient should be managed under isolation until there is a negative test, and the local health department should be contacted immediately.
Symptoms of the Marburg virus are not infectious until they show up. These can include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal symptoms and unexplained bleeding.
It can spread through contact with an infected person’s blood and other body fluids or through fluids from infected animals. It does not spread through the air like the virus that causes Covid-19.
There is no specific vaccine or treatment for the disease. Early intensive supportive care, the CDC said, may keep people from getting seriously ill or dying.
In March, the CDC warned travelers to Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania to avoid contact with sick people and to monitor their health for three weeks after visiting those countries. The agency posted notices in international airports reminding people to watch for symptoms and to see a doctor immediately if they feel sick. Travelers who have traveled to those countries will be receiving text messages.
An outbreak in the northwestern part of the country was announced by the Health Ministry in late March. There are eight lab-confirmed cases, and five of them have died.
There is no evidence to suggest that the two Outbreaks are related, said the CDC. Most experts agree that the two cases are spillover events.