Rwanda’s health ministry has reported the country’s first Marburg virus outbreak, which has already sickened 26 people, 8 of them fatally, across 7 of the country’s 30 districts.
The outbreak comes as Africa battles multiple infectious disease events, including the complex spread of multiple mpox clades. Marburg virus causes a viral hemorrhagic fever disease with symptoms similar to Ebola.
Though Rwanda’s outbreak marks the first Marburg event of 2024, it comes closely on the heels of outbreaks in 2023 that were firsts for two other African nations: Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea.
Many patients are health workers
The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a September 28 statement that 20 patients are in isolation and receiving treatment, and 161 contacts have been identified and are under monitoring. The group is mobilizing expertise and outbreak response tools, which will be delivered to Kigali in the coming days.
Most of the patients are health workers, especially those working in intensive care units, from different medical facilities, according to a Rwandan media report that cited Sabin Nsanzimana, MD, PhD, the country’s health minister.
In guidance to limit Marburg spread, the government has limited the size of funerals for those who died from the disease to 50 people and said that hospitalized Marburg patients will be limited to one caregiver, according to a BBC report.
In a September 28 health alert the US Embassy in Kigali said until the scope and severity of the Marburg outbreak is known, out of an abundance of caution at authorized employees to work remotely today through October 4. It also suspended all in-person services during the people.
Country has robust response system
Matshidiso Moeti, MD, who directs the WHO’s African regional office, “With the country’s already robust public health emergency response system, WHO is collaborating closely with the national authorities to provide the needed support to further enhance the ongoing efforts.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today that the ministry said eight people have died and that it is in communication with health officials in Rwanda and throughout the region. The CDC has had an office in Rwanda since 2002 and has offered the country additional support.
Marburg virus disease has a case-fatality rate as high as 88%. Symptoms can begin suddenly with fever, rash, and severe bleeding. Fruit bats harbor the virus and spread it to people, and like Ebola, the virus spreads between people through contact with infected body fluids.
Currently there are no licensed vaccines or treatments. However, several promising countermeasures are in clinical trials.
