AFRICA ( commonwealth Union ) _ In northwest Tanzania, the Marburg virus has claimed the lives of five individuals. Similar to Ebola, the highly contagious illness causes fever, muscle pains, diarrhoea, vomiting, and, in some cases, extreme blood loss that results in mortality.
In recent years, the epidemic has claimed hundreds of lives, almost all of them in Africa.
How deadly is the Marburg virus, and what is it?
The Marburg virus kills half of those it infects on average, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with prior outbreaks killing between 24% and 88% of patients.
After simultaneous outbreaks in Marburg, Frankfurt, and Belgrade in Serbia and Germany resulted in 31 cases of infection and seven fatalities, the virus was first discovered in 1967. The epidemic was linked to Ugandan-imported African green monkeys. However, later research connected the virus to other species.
It is primarily transmitted among humans by those who have spent a lot of time in caves and mines where there are lots of bats. Marburg virus epidemics have also occurred in recent years in many African countries such as Guinea, Ghana , Congo, Democratic Republic of Kenya, South Africa ,Uganda and Zimbabwe. More than 300 individuals died in Angola in an outbreak in 2005.
Only two individuals worldwide have perished from the Marburg virus in the previous 40 years: one in Europe and one in the US. Both had participated in excursions to Ugandan caves.
How is it to be confined?
Gavi, a global health organization, advises against consuming or managing bushmeat in Africa.
The WHO advises people to stay away from pigs in regions where an outbreak is occurring. For a year following the start of symptoms or until their semen tests virus-free on two separate occasions, men who have had the virus should use condoms. The bodies of those who have perished from the virus shouldn’t be touched by those who bury them.
