A 23-year-old Tanzanian fisherman died after experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and bleeding from his body openings last February. His family and community conducted a routine burial, which led to more people falling ill.
On March 16, a rapid response team was deployed to Bukoba following Tanzania's chief medical officer's announcement that an unknown, "possibly contagious" illness had been detected. Five days later, PCR testing at Tanzania's National Public Health Laboratory revealed that the cause was the Marburg virus.
Marburg Virus Similarities With Ebola Virus
Marburg virus is a highly contagious disease that is similar to Ebola. It is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe hemorrhagic fever, leading to death in up to 90% of cases, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The outbreak in Tanzania is a cause for concern as it is the first time the Marburg virus has been reported in the country, Wired reported. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for swift action to contain and prevent the outbreak from spreading to neighboring countries.
The recent disease outbreak of the Marburg virus in Tanzania is a warning that the world is unprepared for the spread of deadly viruses. Marburg is similar to Ebola, as both viruses are part of the same family and cause viral hemorrhagic fever.
The virus can spread through human contact and is suspected of coming from fruit-eating bats. The symptoms take days to weeks to develop and can be fatal, with up to 90% of cases resulting in death.
Unlike Ebola, no vaccines or antivirals are approved to treat Marburg, and treatment involves supportive care to manage the symptoms. The recent outbreak is not the first appearance of Marburg this year, with Equatorial Guinea reporting an outbreak in February.
The spread of the virus in new places on opposite sides of the continent highlights the ever-present threat of viruses spilling over from wildlife and the need for better preparation and response to these dangers.
The Right Time to Test Vaccines
Marburg virus disease, a highly dangerous and contagious viral hemorrhagic fever, has recently emerged in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania. The New York Times reported that scientists struggle to test new vaccine candidates due to the lack of a mechanism for moving in quickly during a Marburg outbreak.
There are no Marburg therapies or vaccinations, although some candidates have shown promise in Phase 1 clinical trials. Nonetheless, these candidates must be studied in outbreaks to verify their efficacy.
WHO says it has drafted a research protocol that can be applied in these outbreaks and to any other filovirus and has been scrambling for more than a month to get trials underway, working against a ticking clock. The outbreaks in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania are the first-ever reported in either country, and the WHO said that both outbreaks pose regional risks.
Dr. Nancy Sullivan, in charge of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at Boston University, argues that climate change is causing a rise in cases by altering animal and human behavior.
Dr. John Amuasi, head of the global health department at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, also claims that without appropriate resources and protocols, filovirus outbreaks will persist and lack interventions to contain them.
Dr. Amuasi notes that Marburg disease suggests that the virus may have circulated among humans more extensively in the past, and understanding of the illness may need to be reevaluated.
RELATED ARTICLE : Marburg Virus Outbreak: CDC Issues Warnings to Travelers, Deploys Personnel to Help Combat Deadly Surge in Africa
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