Global health authorities have raised alarms after nine people died in a new outbreak of the ‘eye-bleeding’ Marburg virus, a deadly Ebola-like pathogen.
Marburg has already infected ten people in Tanzania, with nine fatalities reported, reflecting the virus’s alarming 90% mortality rate. The outbreak was officially declared last week, with the cases concentrated in the Kagera region in the northwest of Tanzania, which has a population of nearly three million.
Given that Tanzania’s main international airport in Dar es Salaam is easily accessible by train, experts are concerned the virus could spread further.
Ngashi Ngongo, from the Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC), said during an online briefing that efforts are being made with the World Health Organization (WHO) to control the outbreak.
Authorities have identified approximately 281 contacts of the infected individuals and are closely monitoring them for potential symptoms.
So far, 31 tests have been conducted, with two confirmed cases and 29 negative results. Marburg is a haemorrhagic fever that causes severe internal bleeding, including from the eyes, mouth, and ears. The virus can spread through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, contaminated objects, or infected wildlife.
The WHO reports that Marburg has a case fatality rate of up to 88%, meaning nearly nine in ten people who contract it could die.
This outbreak in Tanzania follows a recent Marburg outbreak in neighboring Rwanda, which was declared over less than a month ago. The Rwandan outbreak infected 66 people, with 15 deaths, but the country’s response was praised internationally for limiting the death rate to 23%, the lowest ever recorded for a Marburg outbreak in Africa.
