Death toll from Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda rises to eleven

MADRID, October 3 (EUROPE PRESS) –

Rwandan authorities said the death toll had risen to eleven, with 36 more infected after contracting Marburg virus, a hemorrhagic fever, after new cases were identified.

The Ministry of Health reported that in the last few hours one person has died and seven more have fallen ill, bringing the balance to a provisional figure of eleven deaths and 36 infected throughout the country, of which 25 are being treated. The RBA TV channel reported this on its account on the social network X.

For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) said infection prevention measures were “essential to stop the spread of Marburg virus disease” and said it was working with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to achieve this. ) more than 500 clinical care kits and infection prevention and control products as Rwanda ramps up efforts to control the outbreak.

Marburg virus is transmitted to humans by bats living in fruit trees and has a fatality rate of 25 to 90 percent, depending on how quickly it is treated. Symptoms of infection include headache, bloody vomiting and muscle pain.

There are no vaccines or antiviral drugs approved to treat the virus, which is similar to Ebola. To increase the survival rate of infected people, supportive therapy (oral or intravenous rehydration) and symptomatic treatment are used.

In Africa, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea.