Guinea confirmed a case of Marburg disease, the World Health Organization said on Monday, the first recorded case of a deadly virus related to Ebola in West Africa and, like Covid-19, passed from animal hosts to humans. The WHO said the virus, which is carried by bats and has a mortality rate of up to 88 per cent, was found in samples taken from a patient who died on August 2 in southern Guaidu Prefecture. “The potential for the Marburg virus to spread far and wide means we need to stop it in its tracks,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa. The discovery comes two months after the WHO announced the end of Guinea’s second outbreak. of Ebola, which started last year and killed 12 people. In Geneva, the WHO said it considers the threat “high” at the national and regional level, but “low” globally.
Here’s what you need to know about the latest virus:
History
The first epidemics occurred in Germany and Yugoslavia after infected green monkeys were imported into those countries. There the mortality rate was 23% in 31 patients. Angola had the worst epidemic in 2005 with 252 infections and a 90% mortality rate. This epidemic apparently spread through the reuse of contaminated blood transfusion equipment in the pediatric ward. Like Ebola, transmission can occur at funerals and handling of bodies. There was one report of sexual transmission.
As Forbes reports, two notable diseases occurred in caving tourists in Uganda in 2009. She was the first Dutch woman to die after a “collision” with a bat. The other was a Colorado woman who developed a febrile illness and became seriously ill after traveling to Uganda. While no diagnosis was initially made, she requested a re-test after learning about the Dutch woman; Both were in the same cave. Later he came to know of Marburg.
How does it spread?
Marburg virus is usually associated with contact with caves or mine-dwelling colonies of Rousettus bats. According to the WHO, once caught by a human, it spreads through bodily fluids of infected people, or through contact with contaminated surfaces and materials. There have been 12 major Marburg outbreaks since 1967, mostly in southern and eastern Africa.
The Marburg case and this year’s Ebola case were both found in Guinea’s Gueckedou district near the borders of Liberia and the Ivory Coast. The first cases of the 2014–2016 Ebola epidemic, the largest in history, were from the same region in the forested region of south-eastern Guinea.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms include headache, vomiting blood, muscle aches and bleeding from various pores. Many patients develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days. Case fatality rates in previous outbreaks have varied from 24% to 88%, depending on the virus strain and case management.
treatment
There are no known effective antivirals or vaccines and treatments for Ebola are not effective in Marburg. The CDC states that supportive hospital therapy should be used, including balancing the patient’s fluids and electrolytes, maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure, replacing lost blood and clotting factors, and treatment for any complicated infections. is included.
Silver Lining?
The only good news is that the Marburg epidemic has historically been smaller and better than Ebola.
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