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Marburg, the deadly Ebola-like virus that worries the US after outbreaks in African countries

2023-04-08T18:34:43.996Z


The CDC has asked the US medical community to be vigilant about seeing imported marburg cases, following reports of multiple cases in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania.


By Aria Bendix -

NBC News

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned US doctors on Thursday to be on the lookout for possible infections with a rare but deadly virus called marburg.

The Marburg virus belongs to the same family as Ebola.

Both diseases are considered "viral hemorrhagic fevers" and can cause internal bleeding and damage multiple organs.

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The CDC's new health advisory, sent to clinics and health departments, comes in response to recent marburg outbreaks in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania.

Neither country had reported cases this year.

Colorized photo of the marbug virus taken through a microscope.Getty Images

The Tanzanian Ministry of Health announced on March 21 that a concentration of marburg cases had been confirmed in the northwestern Kagera region.

Since last Wednesday, the country has identified eight cases in connection with the outbreak.

Five of them were fatal.

All the cases seem to be linked.

Although the risk of contracting marburg in the US is low, the CDC is asking doctors to "be aware of the potential for imported cases."

Equatorial Guinea, for its part, confirmed 14 cases of marburg between February 7 and April 5, according to the CDC.

Ten of them were fatal.

Previous outbreaks of Marburg and Ebola have had death rates between 25% and 90% of cases, depending on the virus variant and the strength of efforts to control transmission.

The death rate from these diseases is 50%, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Attentive to the possibility of imported cases

Although the risk of contracting marburg in the United States is low, the CDC is asking doctors to "be aware of the potential for imported cases."

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George Ameh, Equatorial Guinea's representative to the WHO, said in February that the first case in the country likely dates back to January 7, with the deaths taking place among close family members and people attending funerals.

But the CDC said Thursday that the cases in a particular Equatorial Guinea province do not appear to be linked to each other.

In total, four provinces have detected cases so far.

For these reasons, the CDC indicated that "there may be undetected spread in the country."

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Amira Roess, a professor of global health and epidemiology at Mason University, said marburg cases appear to be more prevalent and widespread in the current outbreak than in previous ones.

"We are definitely seeing an increase in more severe cases and seeing more transmission in areas where we haven't seen these viruses before," Roess said, referring to Marburg and Ebola.

"It's worrying."

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Ebola-like symptoms

Migration patterns, which have increased movements from rural to urban areas, as well as between African countries, may be playing a role in this trend, he said.

Roess added humans are penetrating areas where previously there was only wildlife.

Marburg cases can look similar to Ebola.

Symptoms usually begin with fever, chills, headaches, and muscle aches, followed by skin rash, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Some patients may have a sore throat, chest or stomach.

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Ebola symptoms have a similar progression from "dry" to "wet."

In both diseases, they can manifest between two to 21 days after the person is infected.

People can transmit the marburg virus through body fluids, blood, and contaminated objects or surfaces

.

The virus is not transmitted by air.

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There are no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments to treat marburg, but the CDC said 32 laboratories and eight regional treatment centers in the United States can test for it.

The origins of the virus

Fruit bats are the original transmitters of marburg, and

the first human case was detected in 1967.

Before this year's outbreak, the most recent cases were in Ghana, where two deaths and one infection were reported this year.

Before that, Guinea confirmed one death in 2021.

The United States reported a case in 2009 in a traveler who had returned from Uganda the previous year and was diagnosed after recovery.

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Roess said that increased testing capacity in Africa has likely helped officials detect more cases in the current outbreak.

But she added that there may still be cases that are not being reported.

When health officials see a province like Equatorial Guinea, where there are cases that are not linked from an epidemiological point of view, he commented, "that tells me that we were not able to collect all the information, even when we have the technology to do it".

A medical assistant disinfects the rubber boots of a female doctor before leaving the Ebola isolation section of the Mubende Regional Referral Hospital, in Mubende, Uganda, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. Hajarah Nalwadda / AP

The CDC has posted a Level 2 alert for Equatorial Guinea, meaning visitors should avoid unnecessary travel to provinces that have reported cases.

Travelers to Tanzania should follow precautions such as staying away from sick people and watching for symptoms, according to the CDC.

The WHO said in February that it hopes to test an experimental marburg vaccine in Equatorial Guinea.

Three vaccine manufacturers have indicated that they may likely have doses available for trials during the current outbreak.

Two of those experimental vaccines have already entered phase 1 clinical trials.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2023-04-08

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