Geneva, March 30 (BNA): Equatorial Guinea has confirmed 13 cases of Marburg disease since the start of the epidemic, after the head of the World Health Organization urged the central African country’s government to report new cases, health officials said. officially.
Marburg virus disease is a viral hemorrhagic fever that can have a fatality rate of up to 88%, according to the World Health Organization.
Symptoms include fever, fatigue, bloodstained vomit, and diarrhea. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat it. Reuters reports that Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats and is from the same family of virus responsible for the deadly disease Ebola.
Nine people have died, while one patient has recovered, since the start of the pandemic, Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Health said on Twitter, adding that 825 contacts have been traced since then.
The country confirmed its first-ever outbreak of the disease in February, according to the World Health Organization, which last week reported 9 laboratory-confirmed cases and put the total number of deaths and probable cases at 20 each.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier on Wednesday, “WHO is aware of additional cases and we have asked the government to officially report these cases to WHO.”
There is also an outbreak of Marburg virus in Tanzania, the World Health Organization said, with eight cases including five deaths reported in the country’s northwest Kagera region.
The World Health Organization said it is working with local authorities and vaccine manufacturers to conduct trials in affected countries.
WWA