Man dies in Guinea with disease

Guinean health authorities have confirmed the first case of Marburg in West Africa, a highly infectious disease of the same family as the virus that causes Ebola.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the virus must be “stopped dead”.

Marburg virus disease is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and is spread between humans through the transmission of bodily fluids.

Cases are extremely rare with the last major outbreak in Angola in 2005.

It is a serious, often fatal illness with symptoms such as headache, fever, muscle pain, vomiting blood and bleeding.

No treatment exists yet for Marburg, but doctors say drinking plenty of water and treating specific symptoms improves a patient’s chances of survival.

Samples taken from the patient in Guinea, who has since died, have been tested in the country’s laboratories and have given a positive result for the Marburg virus.

He was identified in Guéckédou last week, the same region where recent cases of Ebola were found in an outbreak that is now over.

WHO Africa Director Dr Matshidiso Moeti said the virus had the potential to “spread very far”.

But she praised “the vigilance and speed of investigation of Guinean health workers”.

Efforts are currently underway to locate people who may have been in contact with the deceased man.

Four high-risk contacts, including a health worker, have been identified, in addition to 146 others who may be at risk, expert Dr Krutika Kuppalli, who has followed the case, told the BBC.

Systems in place in Guinea and neighboring countries to control recent Ebola outbreaks are being resumed in response to the Marburg virus.

In Africa, epidemic outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, according to the WHO. The very first Marburg epidemic occurred in Germany in 1967, where seven people died.

The virus killed more than 200 people in Angola in 2005, the deadliest epidemic on record according to the global health body.