While West Africa, and indeed the world are still trying to find a way out of the deadly ebola virus that’s in circulation, there has been a recent death of a Ugandan hospital technician of another deadly viral disease,Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever (MHF), which has brought fresh fears.
These contacts are being monitored for signs and symptoms of the disease after tests confirmed that the 30-year-old man who worked as a radiographer in a Kampala hospital died of the disease. The man was said to have had a headache, abdominal pains, diarrhoea and vomited blood before he died.
Key facts of Marburg haemorrhagic fever according to WHO
°The Marburg virus causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever in humans.
°Case fatality rates in Marburg haemorrhagic fever outbreaks have ranged from 24% to 88%.
°Rousettus aegypti, fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, are considered to be natural hosts of Marburg virus.
°The Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission.
No specific antiviral treatment or vaccine is available.
Marburg virus is the causative agent of Marburg haemorrhagic fever (MHF), a disease with a case fatality ratio of up to 88%. Marburg haemorrhagic fever was initially detected in 1967 after simultaneous outbreaks in Marburg, from which the disease takes its name, and Frankfurt in Germany; and in Belgrade, Serbia.
Marburg and Ebola viruses are the two members of the Filoviridae family (filovirus). Though caused by different viruses, the two diseases are clinically similar. Both diseases are rare and have the capacity to cause dramatic outbreaks with high fatality rates.
Outbreaks:
Two large outbreaks that occurred simultaneously in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany, and in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1967, led to the initial recognition of the disease. The outbreak was associated with laboratory work using African green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) imported from Uganda. Subsequently, outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa (in a person with recent travel history to Zimbabwe) and Uganda. In 2008, two independent cases were reported in travelers who visited a cave inhabited by Rousettus bat colonies in Uganda.
Transmission:
Originally, human infection results from prolonged exposure to mines or caves inhabited by Rousettus bats colonies.
Transmission is mainly human-to-human, resulting from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons. Burial ceremonies where mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased can play a significant role in the transmission of Marburg. Transmission via infected semen can occur up to seven weeks after clinical recovery.
Transmission to health-care workers has been reported while treating Marburg patients, through close contact without the use of correct infection control precautions. Transmission via contaminated injection equipment or through needle-stick injuries is associated with more severe disease, rapid deterioration, and, possibly, a higher fatality rate.
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