Rwanda: Marburg Virus 'Under Control' As All Patients Recovered

The New Times
Medics in charge of helping Marburg patients at Kigali Hospital. According to the Ministry of health, only one Marburg patient under treatment.
8 November 2024
The New Times (Kigali)
By Moise M. Bahati

The Ministry of Health has announced that two patients who had been receiving treatment for the Marburg Virus Disease recovered on Friday, November 8, bringing the total recoveries to 51.

The ministry had not reported any new cases since October 31. Since Rwanda confirmed its first-ever outbreak of the Marburg virus on September 27, the disease has claimed 15.

ALSO READ: Exact origin of Marburg virus identified

A total of 66 cases have been confirmed.

No new fatalities from the infectious disease have been since October 15.

"The outbreak is under control and surveillance continues," the ministry said in a weekly update on the Marburg virus.

ALSO READ: Marburg: Rwanda breaks off human contact with cave-dwelling bats

The outbreak can be declared over if no new infections arise for 42 days -- equivalent to two incubation periods for the virus -- after the last case is identified, according to the scientific journal Nature.

ALSO READ: How Rwanda detected the first Marburg virus cases

The Marburg virus, which is transmitted to humans by fruit bats, causes a haemorrhagic fever and patients exhibit symptoms such as severe headaches, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Genomic sequencing of the virus that caused the outbreak in Rwanda showed that it originated from direct contact between Egyptian fruits bats and humans in a cave where mining activities had been taking place.

ALSO READ: Rwanda has almost zero risk to export Marburg, says Africa CDC boss

Rwanda has recorded lowest fatality rate of the deadly Marburg virus, and the outbreak was the third largest recorded, according to the Ministry of Health.

About 22.7 per cent of the patients in Rwanda died, while previous outbreaks saw a fatality rate of up to 88 per cent.

Read the original article on New Times.

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