Marburg virus
Context
- Recently, West Africa’s first case of the Marburg virus was confirmed
- in Guinea.
About
- Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent disease that causes hemorrhagic fever.
- It is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease.
- The virus was initially detected in 1967 after simultaneous outbreaks in Marburg and & Frankfurt in Germany; and in Belgrade, Serbia.
- The common symptoms of a virus are fever, headache, fatigue, abdominal pain and gingival haemorrhage.
- Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats.
- The virus spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of the patient, surfaces and materials
- The case fatality rate is around 50%.
- There are no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments for the virus yet.
- Early supportive care with rehydration and symptomatic treatment improves survival rates.