At least nine people have died in Equatorial Guinea from the Marburg virus which causes hemorrhagic fever and is similar to the "Ebola" disease, World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
In a press statement, WHO said that Equatorial Guinea confirmed the first-ever outbreak of the virus after samples from nine people turned out positive for the Marburg virus. Sixteen suspected cases with symptoms, including fever, fatigue and blood-stained vomit and diarrhoea have also been reported, the statement added.
Advance teams have been deployed in the affected districts to trace contacts, isolate and provide medical care to those showing symptoms of the disease, the statement said.
The WHO R&D Blueprint has called an urgent meeting on February 14 with MARVAC partners to discuss vaccine and therapeutic candidates to outline proposed research priorities towards the newly identified Marburg outbreak in Equatorial Guinea, a statement on the WHO's website said.
Health minister of Equatorial Guinea Mitoha Ondo’o Ayekaba said that the country had “declared today (February 14) the health alert for a Marburg hemorrhagic fever in the province of Kie-Ntem and the (neighbouring) district of Mongomo”, according to a report on website Africanews.
A “containment plan has been put in place” in close collaboration with the UN World Health Organization (WHO) “to deal with the epidemic” in this area.
Efforts are also underway to mount an emergency response, with WHO deploying health emergency experts to support the national response efforts and secure community collaboration to control the outbreak.
“Marburg is highly infectious. Thanks to the rapid and decisive action by the Equatorial Guinean authorities in confirming the disease, emergency response can get to full steam quickly so that we save lives and halt the virus as soon as possible,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
What is the Marburg virus?
Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88 percent. It is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by the virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise.
Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days. 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.
There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus.
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