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CONAKRY, Aug. 9 (Reuters) – Guinean health officials have confirmed a death from Marburg virus, a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
This is the first time that the deadly disease has been identified in West Africa. There have been 12 major epidemics of Marburg since 1967, mainly in southern and eastern Africa.
Guinea’s new case was first identified last week, just two months after the country was declared Ebola-free following a brief outbreak earlier this year that killed 12 people.
The patient, who has since succumbed to the disease, first sought treatment at a local clinic before his condition deteriorated rapidly, according to the WHO statement.
Analysts from the Guinean National Hemorrhagic Fever Laboratory and the Pasteur Institute in Senegal subsequently confirmed Marburg’s diagnosis.
“The potential for the spread of the Marburg virus means we have to stop it dead,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said in the statement.
“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 transmitted in a similar way,” Moeti said.
The Marburg case and this year’s Ebola cases were detected in Gueckedou district in Guinea, near the borders with Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. The first cases of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, the largest in history, also came from the same region of the forest region of southeastern Guinea.
Marburg’s case fatality rates have ranged from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks depending on viral strain and case management, the WHO said, adding that transmission occurs through contact with bodily fluids and infected tissue. Symptoms include headache, vomiting blood, muscle pain, and bleeding from various openings.
Reporting by Saliou Samb and Bate Felix Writing by Cooper Inveen Editing by Giles Elgood
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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