What is Marburg virus, a disease with an 88% mortality rate that is causing concern in Rwanda?

Since September last year, the Ministry of Health Rwanda confirmed 29 cases of the disease due to Marburg virusof which 11 resulted in death. In fact, it is believed that its mortality rate may be as high as 88%, with no treatments or vaccines currently available to combat it.

As explained from Scientific Media Center Spain (SMC Spain)Marburg virus belongs to the family phylovurislike a virus Ebola. Thus, both viruses have some similarities, although there are significant differences between them.

Although Ebola outbreaks and epidemics have killed thousands of people, Marburg has never caused so much chaos. Typically, these episodes result in very few infections and deaths, and only two outbreaks (between 1998 and 2000 and between 2004 and 2005) exceeded one hundred infections and deaths. In fact, the current outbreak is currently third largest known outbreak.

From these data it is clear that the Marburg virus, despite its high mortality, It is not as infectious as Ebola.. “The reality is that the biological characteristics of these viruses, with very high mortality but very low capacity for transmission between people, explain that there have never been outbreaks outside of Africa, except in specific cases, most of which were imported or associated with laboratory incidents,” specify from SMC.

Therefore, although WHO believes that risk the outbreak level is “very high” nationally, the risk regionally is only “high” – the country borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Uganda – and “low” globally. “In other words, there is concern about its spread in Rwanda and neighboring countries, but there is no fear that the virus will reach distant countries,” explains the office of scientific resources.

How is it transmitted?

As SMC explained, this is a virus zoonotic. It usually jumps to the human population from infected batand from there it spreads between people through direct contact with blood, secretions, organs and other body fluids. Likewise, surfaces and materials such as clothing and sheets can also be a source of contamination.

In the specific case of Rwanda, 80% of patients sanitarywhich shows the risk faced by healthcare workers who treat patients. In addition, the authorities ordered to reduce the size funeral ceremoniessince they involve direct contact with bodies.

Symptoms

Once infected, the incubation period of the virus varies. from 2 to 21 days. Symptoms begin suddenly with high fever, severe headache and severe discomfort. Other symptoms include severe watery diarrhea, abdominal pain, cramps, nausea and vomiting. In addition, hemorrhagic signs usually appear in some fatal cases.