Top Line
Health officials in Equatorial Guinea detected the West African country’s first cases of the rare but highly contagious Marburg virus, the World Health Organization confirmed on Monday, months after another outbreak in Ghana, as experts scramble to contain an outbreak of the deadly virus. Let’s work
Equatorial Guinea reports its first case of deadly Marburg virus as health officials work , [+]
important facts
WHO Confirmed The virus has spread to the country of 1.6 million people on Africa’s Atlantic coast after receiving preliminary results of a test from the country’s Key Entem province, where nine people died of viral fever last week.
it comes after the officers quarantined More than 200 residents and restricted residents’ movement last week following a series of hemorrhagic fever deaths.
Marburg—a virus in the same family as Ebola that is typically spread by fruit bats and can spread human-to-human through direct contact with bodily fluids—is highly virulent, causing hemorrhagic symptoms within a week Fever causes, according to WHO Africa Regional Director Matsyadiso Moeti.
In addition to the nine deaths reported in Equatorial Guinea, officials in the country also reported 16 suspected cases of the virus, with symptoms including fatigue, fever, diarrhea and “blood-tinged vomit”.
The WHO said it has deployed emergency health workers to help control the outbreak, with teams of health care workers conducting contact tracing to determine isolation policies.
organization as well announced On Monday it plans to convene an “urgent meeting” on Tuesday to address the outbreak.
big number
88%. According to WHO, this is the mortality rate of Marburg virus. By comparison, the death rate from COVID-19 in the US is 1.1%, According to Johns Hopkins University researchers.
Adverse
There is no approved vaccine or antiviral treatment against Marburg, although rehydration, including intravenous fluids, can increase survival rates, according to the WHO. Outbreak detection in Equatorial Guinea has been complicated, however, as symptoms including fever, chills, headache and muscle weakness often appear similar to those of malaria and other infectious diseases, including typhoid fever or viral fevers such as Ebola. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
main background
Marburg was first detected in Germany and the former Yugoslavia in 1967, with 31 cases—and seven deaths—mainly linked to lab monkeys. Smaller outbreaks were detected in South Africa, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, which recorded 154 cases and 128 deaths. CDC, Another 252 people tested positive for the virus in Angola in 2004, of whom 227 died from the contagious virus. Last June, health officials in Ghana advised people to avoid caves and thoroughly cook meat after three more positive cases were detected, including two deaths.
tangent line
In a promising sign, a vaccine being developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases showed "long-lasting" immunity among humans and "no serious adverse events" in a clinical trial. According to a paper published late last month in the scientific journal the Lancet-Although the vaccine is still in its trial phase, further trials are planned in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and the US
Marburg, monkeypox, and other viruses emerging from Africa (Forbes)
What is Marburg? What you need to know about the deadly virus found in Ghana (Forbes)
Credit: www.forbes.com /