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A man who died in West Africa tested positive for the Ebola-like Marburg virus – health officials scramble to stop the deadly disease before it can “spread everywhere,” said the World Health Organization.
The unidentified man fell ill with “fever, headache, fatigue [and] abdominal pain “last month in Gueckedou in Guinea, near the borders with Sierra Leone and Liberia, WHO officials announced on Monday.
He died on Aug. 2, tests finally showing he died of Marburg, a “highly infectious disease that causes hemorrhagic fever” – and has a death rate of up to 88%, the WHO said.
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Marburg “is part of the same family as the virus that causes Ebola”, which killed at least 11,325 people in the 2014-2016 epidemic that started in the same part of Guinea. The country was only recently declared Ebola-free after a brief outbreak earlier this year that left 12 people dead.
It is believed that Marburg originated in bats and is transmitted from animal hosts to humans.
“The potential for the spread of the Marburg virus means we have to stop it dead,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
The agency sent 10 experts to help local authorities, who said at least 146 people had been identified as having come into contact with the man before his death.
“We are working with health authorities to implement a rapid response that builds on Guinea’s past experience and expertise in dealing with Ebola, which is similarly transmitted,” Moeti said.
Marburg epidemics begin when an infected animal, such as a monkey or fruit bat, transmits the virus to a human. The virus is then spread from human to human through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
Symptoms of Marburg include a high fever and muscle pain, and some patients later bleed through body openings like the eyes and ears, the WHO said.
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This is the first time it has been detected in Guinea, but previous epidemics have broken out elsewhere in Africa in Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.
There is no drug or vaccine approved for Marburg, but rehydration and other supportive care can improve a patient’s chances of survival, the WHO said.
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