hazyAt least nine people have died in Equatorial Guinea from an “outbreak” of the Marburg virus, which causes a hemorrhagic fever and is similar to the disease ‘Ebola’, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. In a press statement, the WHO said that Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first outbreak on Monday (local time), after samples of nine people turned out to be positive for Marburg virus disease.
According to the statement, advance teams have been deployed in the affected districts to trace contacts, isolate people showing symptoms of the disease and provide medical care. WHO is deploying epidemiology, case management, infection prevention, laboratory and health emergency experts. Risk communication to support national response efforts and secure community cooperation in outbreak control. WHO is also facilitating the shipment of laboratory glove tents for sample testing as well as a viral hemorrhagic fever kit that includes personal protective equipment that can be used by 500 health workers.
“Marburg is highly contagious. Thanks to the quick and decisive action by Equatorial Guinea officials in confirming the disease, the emergency response can quickly get full steam ahead so we can save lives and contain the virus as quickly as possible,” Dr. said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. According to WHO, Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent disease with a fatality ratio of up to 88 percent.
It is a virus from the same family that causes Ebola virus disease. The disease caused by Marburg virus begins suddenly with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. Many patients developed severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days. The virus is transmitted from fruit bats to people and to humans through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. So far, no vaccine or treatment has been found to treat the virus; however, there is supportive care that can improve your chances of survival.
A range of potential treatments, including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies, as well as candidate vaccines with Phase 1 data, are being evaluated. Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea’s Health Minister Mitoha Ondo’o Ayakaba said the country had “declared a health alert today (Tuesday) for a Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Ki-Ntem province and in (neighboring) Mongomo district”. for African news.
A “containment plan” has been put in place in close cooperation with the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) to “deal with the epidemic” in the region covered by dense equatorial forest on the eastern side of the country’s mainland. Consists of two main islands. Marburg virus is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and through direct contact with body fluids of infected individuals, or surfaces and materials, AfricaNews reported.