Deadly Marburg Virus its Outbreak in Equatorial Guinea; Reports WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed an outbreak of the Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea. This virus is similar to the deadly Ebola. The death rate for the diseases caused by the Marburg virus is above 88 per cent. As per reports, the Marburg virus may have caused the death of nine people the Central African country.

More than 200 people have been quarantined in Equatorial Guinea’s Kie-Ntem province after an unknown hemorrhagic fever was detected.

According to WHO, over 16 suspected cases of Marburg virus have been reported in Equatorial Guinea with symptoms like fever, fatigue, and blood-stained vomit and diarrhoea.

According to the WHO, the Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a highly infectious disease that causes haemorrhagic fever. The fatality ratio of this disease is up to 88 per cent. In 1967, two large outbreaks of Marburg disease occurred simultaneously in Frankfurt, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia.

This virus can be spread through human-to-human transmission via direct contacts like broken skin or mucous membranes, with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids. It can also spread with surface materials contaminated with these fluids.

Till now there is no approved vaccine for the Marburg virus. There is no proven treatment available yet for the disease. Experimental vaccines are in the initial phase of clinical studies. Probable treatments including infusion of blood products, immune therapies, and drug therapies are currently being evaluated.