WHO reports deadly Marburg virus cases in Africa

From the World Health Organization (WHO) website reported on the discovery of two potential cases of Marburg virus disease (MBV) in Ghana. There has never been such an infection in this country before.

Marburg virus belongs to the family Filoviridae (Filoviruses). Like the Ebola virus, Marburg infection results in a severe hemorrhagic fever with a mortality rate of about 50%. In past outbreaks, this has ranged from 24% to 88% depending on strain and quality of care.

Two potential new cases of MBV have occurred in the southern Ashanti region, according to the WHO. Subjects were taken to a local hospital with symptoms such as diarrhea, fever, nausea, and vomiting. The patient was not related and subsequently died of the disease.

Preliminary analysis of samples taken from them gave a positive result for the Marburg virus. WHO standard procedure is now to send these samples to the organization's headquarters in Senegal for confirmation.

Francis Casolo, a WHO doctor in Ghana, said that all possible contact tracing had begun.

Prior to this, Marburg virus had only been detected in West Africa once. At the end of 2021, a farmer in Guinea died from the infection, but after careful monitoring by the WHO for several months, no new cases were identified.

It is believed that the primary infection of humans occurs as a result of a long stay in the mines or caves, where colonies of Rousettus bats live.

The spread of the virus occurs as a result of direct physical contact (through damage to the skin or mucous membranes) with blood, secretions or other bodily fluids of those infected, as well as contact with contaminated fluids, surfaces and materials (bed linen, clothing, etc.). Further).

The Marburg virus is less studied than its better-known relative Ebola, but the two viruses share similarities. Infection occurs through body fluids, and the incubation period can last up to 21 days. Severe hemorrhagic signs appear 7 days after the onset of symptoms, and currently does not exist established treatments, vaccines, or antiviral drugs.