t least nine people have been killed by a deadly disease that broke out in Equatorial Guinea and now reached Cameroon.
The outbreak of Marburg, which is similar to Ebola, was confirmed on Sunday with cases found in the Kié-Ntem Province, in the north-east of the African country.
Cameroonian authorities detected two suspected cases of Marburg disease on Monday in Olamze, a commune on the border with Equatorial Guinea.
Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a rare but severe haemorrhagic fever that affects both people and non-human primates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The virus was initially transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, materials and surfaces.
The virus has also been described as very similar to Ebola; it has no cure with a mortality rate of up to 88 per cent.
The Ebola virus caused an outbreak in Western Africa between 2013 and 2016 that killed more than 11,000 people.
Alongside the nine people who have lost their lives to the Marburg virus, hundreds of others are suspected to have been infected and are currently in quarantine.
Travel and movement from Equatoria Guinea have been restricted with neighbouring countries Gabon and Cameroon heavily restricting movement along their borders.
The alarm was raised last week by local officials after a mystery illness struck several people.
On Monday February 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated 16 people have also tested positive.
The UN agency will be holding a meeting to discuss possible Marburg virus vaccines.
What is the Marburg virus?
Marburg virus is a filovirus that can cause a severe and fatal viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF).
A more well-known virus in the filovirus family is the Ebola virus–to which Marburg virus disease is almost clinically indistinguishable.
Marburg virus was first discovered in 1967 when there were simultaneous outbreaks at laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany, as well as in Belgrade in Serbia.
The laboratory workers who became ill had been in contact with the blood, organs, or cell cultures of imported African green monkeys from north-western Uganda.
Marburg is generally considered to be a zoonotic virus, which means it is animal-borne. Fruit bats are considered to be the natural host and monkeys are susceptible but, as they die quickly after being infected, they are not usually a host.
Marburg virus symptoms
The initial symptoms of Marburg virus are the following:
- severe headache
- malaise
- high fever
- progressive and rapid debilitation
Around three days later, symptoms include:
- watery diarrhoea
- abdominal pain
- cramping
- nausea
- vomiting
Symptoms become increasingly worse, and after about five to seven days, many patients will develop severe haemorrhagic fever. Fatal cases will usually involve bleeding.
The incubation period of Marburg virus is typically between three and 10 days.
There is currently no specific treatment for Marburg virus, but patients receive supportive therapy such as maintaining their oxygen and blood pressure and replacing lost blood.
Marburg virus transmission
Initial outbreaks occurred after exposure in mines or caves inhabited by Rousettus bat colonies.
But transmission from person to person occurs through close contact with an infected person, particularly blood and bodily fluids, which contain a high concentration of the virus.
Marburg virus can also be transmitted sexually and can remain in semen for up to seven weeks after recovery.
Marburg virus can also be transmitted via contaminated injection equipment, as well as close contact with the bodies or bodily fluids of people who have died of Marburg.
“Marburg is highly infectious,” warned Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa.
He continued: “Thanks to the rapid and decisive action by the Equatorial Guinean authorities in confirming the disease, emergency response can get to full steam quickly so that we save lives and halt the virus as soon as possible.”
