Marburg virus

• Tanzania has recently confirmed its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus, a highly contagious and deadly virus that causes viral hemorrhagic fever.

About Marburg virus

• Marburg virus is an Ebola-like virus that causes viral hemorrhagic fever.
• The virus is the causative agent of Marburg virus disease (MVD), a disease with a case fatality ratio of up to 88%.
• Both Marburg and Ebola viruses are members of the Filoviridae family (filovirus), and the two diseases are clinically similar.
• Marburg virus disease was initially detected in 1967 after simultaneous outbreaks in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany; and in Belgrade, Serbia.
• Transmission– Human MVD infection results from prolonged exposure to mines or caves inhabited by Rousettus bat colonies.
  • Marburg spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and via contaminated surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing).
• Symptoms– incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms) varies from 2 to 21 days. High fever, severe headache, severe malaise, Muscle aches and pains, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping, nausea, and vomiting are common symptoms.
• Many patients develop severe hemorrhagic manifestations and fatal cases usually have some form of bleeding, often from multiple areas.