8 new cases of Marburg virus confirmed in Equatorial Guinea

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Eight new confirmed cases of Marburg virus have been reported in Equatorial Guinea, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to nine since the outbreak was declared in February.

The new cases were confirmed following laboratory analysis of additional samples in “Kie Ntem in the east, Litoral in the country’s west, and Centro Sur provinces, bordering Cameroon and Gabon,” WHO said in a statement.

The areas reporting cases are about 150 kilometers (93 miles) apart, suggesting wider transmission of the virus, it said.

At least 20 probable cases have been reported and 20 deaths.

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said the confirmation of the new cases was a critical signal to scale up response efforts to urgently stop the chain of transmission and avert a potential large-scale outbreak and deaths.

“Marburg is highly virulent but can be effectively controlled and halted by promptly deploying a broad range of outbreak response measures,” she said.

WHO said it is working with the national authorities to step up emergency response measures – including enhancing disease surveillance, testing, clinical care, infection prevention and control as well as carrying out further epidemiological investigations.

Stressing the need to bolster public awareness to help curb infection spread, WHO said additional experts in epidemiology and infection prevention and control will be deployed in the coming days.

The latest announcement in Equatorial Guinea came days after Tanzania’s Health Ministry declared on Monday the first outbreak of the deadly disease in the country's northwestern Kagera region, which has claimed five lives, with three others admitted.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said it would send an expert team to Tanzania to help with response measures.

“The emerging and reemerging infectious diseases call for strengthening of the health security of the continent in order to cope with the health threats,” Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, acting director of Africa CDC, told Anadolu.

Marburg virus disease, which is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola, is a highly virulent disease that causes hemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%.

Illness caused by the Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise.

Many patients develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days, with no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved yet to treat the virus.

The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials, according to WHO.