A reported outbreak of the Marburg virus in northwest Tanzania has infected nine people, killing eight of them, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is coming mere weeks after an outbreak of the disease was declared over in neighboring Rwanda.
The viral hemorrhagic fever, caused by the Marburg virus, has a fatality rate as high as 88%. It belongs to the same virus family as Ebola and is transmitted to people from fruit bats, which are endemic to East Africa.
The WHO reported receiving authentic information about suspected Marburg virus cases in the Kagera region of Tanzania on January 10. The symptoms include headache, high fever, back pain, diarrhea, vomiting blood, muscle weakness, and external bleeding.
Samples from two patients are currently awaiting testing at Tanzania’s national laboratory for confirmation of the Marburg virus outbreak, the WHO said in a statement on Tuesday. The patients’ contacts, including healthcare workers, have been identified and are being monitored.
The recent outbreak in Rwanda, which shares a border with Tanzania’s Kagera region, infected 66 people and killed 15 before it was announced over on December 20.
Marburg virus can be spread between people through direct contact with blood and other bodily fluids of infected individuals, including contaminated bedding or clothing. An outbreak in the Kagera region in March 2023 killed six people and lasted nearly two months.
