Urgent warning against travel as cases of Ebola-like Marburg virus surge
PEOPLE from several countries are being urged not to travel to African countries affected by the Marburg virus outbreak, over fears of international spread.
Marburg virus is an infectious disease that has a 90 per cent fatality rate and, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), epidemic potential.
Seven countries have advised against all nonessential travel to Equatorial Guinea in west Africa, where the majority of cases have been discovered.
These countries include Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait.
Australia and the US are urging travellers to exercise a high degree of caution when visiting Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania, also affected by the outbreak.
They have also urged citizens and residents to avoid nonessential travel to the provinces where the outbreak is ongoing.
Reda more on Marburg
Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam, has implemented for those people arriving from African countries.
It comes as Equatorial Guinea five new suspected cases of the highly virulent bug after announcing its first ever outbreak in mid-February.
The bug currently has no known vaccine or treatment.
So far, the country has a total of 14 confirmed cases, and of those, ten people have died since the outbreak, official health suggests.
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There is also an additional ten suspected cases in the country and 20 probable cases, all of which have died, WHO said in a .
The outbreak has spread from rural districts to the main port of the African nation, Bata, increasing the risk of international transmission.
Last week, the WHO said “the risk of international spread [or Marburg] cannot be ruled out”.
At least four cases have now been detected in the city, which has a population of around 200,000 people, an international airport and links to several neighbouring countries.
Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania are facing their first known outbreaks of the bug.
As of March 22, Tanzania has had eight confirmed cases, including five deaths.
Some 34 people in Africa could have died of Marburg since February 2023, reports suggest.
Last month, a mysterious 'nosebleed' disease claimed the lives of three people in Burundi, west Africa.
The symptoms appear to point towards some sort of viral haemorrhagic fever, which damages the walls of tiny blood vessels making them leak, such as Marburg and Ebola.
However the Burundian Ministry of Health has already ruled out both illnesses.
The 13 symptoms of Marburg you need to know
Symptoms can vary depending on how long you've had the bug
After two days:
- fever
- chills
- headache
- myalgia
After five days:
- chest rash
- jaundice
- inflammation of the pancreas
- severe weight loss
- delirium
- shock
- liver failure
- massive hemorrhaging
- and multi-organ dysfunction
Source: Centre for Disease Control
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Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats, and it can spread between humans through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces and materials, the WHO said.
No treatment or vaccine exists for Marburg.
In 2014-16 the largest outbreak of Ebola since 1970 began in Guinea.
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Cases were recorded in Nigeria, the US, UK, Spain and Italy.
There were 28,616 suspected, probable and confirmed cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and 11,310 deaths.