NAIROBI (Reuters) – A suspected outbreak of the Marburg virus in northwest Tanzania has infected nine people, killing eight of them, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said, weeks after an outbreak of the disease was declared over in neighbouring Rwanda. The viral hemorrhagic fever has a fatality rate as high as 88%, and is from the same virus family as the one responsible for Ebola, which is transmitted to people from fruit bats endemic to that part of East Africa.
The WHO received reliable reports of suspected cases in the Kagera region of Tanzania on January 10, with symptoms including headache, high fever, back pain, diarrhea, vomiting blood, muscle weakness, and finally external bleeding. Samples from two patients were awaiting testing at Tanzania’s national laboratory for confirmation of the outbreak.
The patients’ contacts, including healthcare workers, have been identified and are being followed up, WHO reported. The outbreak in Rwanda, which shares a border with Tanzania’s Kagera region, infected 66 people and killed 15 before it was declared over on December 20.
Marburg virus can spread between people through direct contact or via blood and other bodily fluids of infected people, including contaminated bedding or clothing. An outbreak in the Kagera region in March 2023 killed six people and lasted for nearly two months.