Marburg Virus Outbreak Ghana: Ghana declares first outbreak of deadly Marburg virus- Check Symptoms

Marburg Virus Outbreak Ghana: Ghana, a country in West Africa, has officially confirmed two cases of the deadly Marburg virus. The two patients, both deceased, tested positive for the highly infectious virus in southern Ashanti region of Ghana. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the same in a statement on July 17, 2022. The organisation added that more than 90 contacts of the patients are being monitored presently. The two Malburg cases in Ghana were unrelated.

Marburg is a highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever, which belongs to the same family as the Ebola virus disease.  It has a fatality ratio of up to 88 percent. Marburg virus symptoms include high fever, severe headache and malaise. WHO noted that the illness begins abruptly. 

.@WHO teams are providing support and will continue to work closely with #Ghana’s government and communities to contain the country’s first #Marburg outbreak as quickly as possible.https://t.co/JzM5vfnKH1

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) July 18, 2022

WHO further confirmed that containment measures are being put in place and more resources will be deployed soon in response to the Marburg Virus outbreak in Ghana. This is the first such outbreak in the Western African country and second time that the deadly Marburg virus has been detected in the region. 

Guinea had confirmed the first case of the extremely contagious virus in September 2021, five weeks after the case was detected.

READ: West Africa reports first case of Marburg Virus – All you need to know

Marburg Virus Outbreak Ghana 

• The two patients, both deceased and unrelated had shown Marburg virus symptoms including fever, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. 
• Their samples were sent to Institut Pasteur in Senegal, a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for confirmation as per the standard procedure. The laboratory then corroborated the results from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.
• The results suggested that the illness of the two patients was due to the deadly Marburg virus.
• One patient was a 26-year-old man who got admitted to a district hospital in Ashanti region on June 26th and died on June 27th.
• The other patient was a 51-year-old male who reported to the same hospital on June 28th and died on the same day.
• Both the patients had sought treatment at the same hospital within days of each other.
• More than 90 contacts of the two patients including community members and health workers have been identified and are being monitored.

Dr. Francis Kasolo, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Ghana said, "We are working closely with the country to ramp up detection, track contacts, be ready to control the spread of the virus."

Marburg Virus Outbreak Ghana: Containment Measures

The World Health Organisation is deploying experts to support Ghana’s health authorities by increasing disease surveillance by testing and tracing contacts and preparing to treat possible patients. WHO is also working with communities to alert and educate them about the risks and dangers of the disease. 

What is Marburg virus?

The Marburg virus disease is an extremely infectious hemorrhagic fever that belongs to the same family as Ebola virus. 

Marburg Virus Spread: How does Marburg virus spread?

The Marburg virus spreads to people through fruit bats. The Marburg virus human-to-human transmission takes place through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people and surfaces. The virus has an incubation period of two to 21 days.

The Marburg virus can spread through prolonged exposure to caves or mines that are inhabited by Rousettus bat colonies. Once a person is infected, the virus can spread from human-to-human contact through blood, bodily fluids, broken skin, secretions, organs or surfaces such as clothing and bedding contaminated by the infected person.

Marburg Virus severity 

The Marburg virus case fatality rates vary from 24 percent to 88 percent in the past outbreaks depending on virus strain and case management. The patients reportedly die between 8 to 9 days after the onset of the symptoms in cases of severe hemorrhagic cases.

Marburg Virus previous outbreaks

There have been previous outbreaks of Marburg in Africa in Angola, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and Uganda.

Marburg Virus treatment

There are Marburg virus vaccine or antiviral treatments that have been approved to treat the virus. The Marburg virus cases are presently treated with supportive care and treatment of specific symptoms.