United States: The official health reports have said the death toll of the suspected Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Tanzania has risen to eight, bringing a menace to the country and neighboring states.
More about the news
As of 11 January, WHO said that there were nine suspected cases of the Ebola-like virus, with eight of the victims dying in the two districts of the Kagera region in the north of the country.
As for the threat level of this outbreak worldwide, it is low; however, officials stated that it is high in Tanzania and the region.
About the disease
Common symptoms reported by patients included headache, high fever, back pain, stomach ache with diarrhea, vomiting with blood, and weakness, and in later stages, they bled through the body openings.
According to WHO, “The reporting of suspected MVD cases from two districts suggests geographic spread. The delayed detection and isolation of cases, coupled with ongoing contact tracing, indicates a lack of full information on the current outbreak. More cases are expected to be identified,” the Guardian reported.
8 dead as WHO confirms suspected marburg virus outbreak in Tanzania https://t.co/RImLXJFl4J #thestreetjournalnewspaper pic.twitter.com/LwsCdCLWt5
— The Street Journal Newspaper (@TSJournalnews) January 15, 2025
It also highlighted that 89% of the deaths out of the cases confirmed were recorded and that HCWs are among the suspected cases, including the possibility of healthcare facility outbreaks.
Furthermore, Kagera borders Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda, with major cross-border movement of people; the WHO has concluded there was “the potential for spread into neighboring countries.”
Potential to spread further
As experts note, while MVD is not potentially transmissible, generally via coming in contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or surfaces tainted with infected fluids, the WHO states, “It cannot be excluded that a person exposed to the virus may be traveling.”
People-to-people transmission src of cases is yet to be established, and contact tracing & additional laboratory investigations are still underway.
A suspected outbreak of the Marburg virus in northwest Tanzania has infected nine people, killing eight of them, the World Health Organization has said, weeks after an outbreak of the disease was declared over in neighbouring Rwanda.https://t.co/hz5w6M7BZw
— Bilyonaryo (@bilyonaryo_ph) January 15, 2025
It has usually emerged from human interactions with fruit bats, which are natural hosts of the virus. The announcement comes against the backdrop of an MVD outbreak in neighboring Rwanda that has recently been concluded.
What more are the officials stating?
In that outbreak, which was linked to fruit bats in a mining cave, there were 66 cases, of which 15 were fatal. Tanzania had the first Marburg outbreak in 2023 of the same year, and in Kagera, there were nine cases and six deaths, the Guardian reported.
A suspected outbreak of the Marburg virus in northwest Tanzania has infected nine people, killing eight of them, the World Health Organization has said, weeks after an outbreak of the disease was declared over in neighbouring Rwanda. https://t.co/Briv0EZj7n pic.twitter.com/iIFDLceh7V
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 15, 2025
However, sporadic and recurrent Marburg virus flare eruption tends to offer a death rate ranging from 24 percent to 88 percent.
They are said to be over 42 days since the last patient had a positive test result and, in that case, another negative test result.