US travellers advised to take precautions after fatal Marburg virus outbreak in Africa

United States-based travellers planning to visit Guinea and Tanzania are being advised by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to take precautions to avoid contracting the fatal Marburg virus. Additionally, the CDC is dispatching personnel to Africa to provide assistance in controlling the spread of the disease.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers the Marburg virus to be an infectious disease with the potential for epidemics, which has high fatality rates.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that its National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases will be deployed this week to address the outbreaks of Marburg virus in Guinea and Tanzania, reported FoX News.

The CDC issued a warning this week advising travellers in Guinea and Tanzania to stay away from individuals who are ill, avoid healthcare facilities in outbreak areas, and monitor themselves for symptoms for a period of three weeks after leaving the region.

In Africa, Equatorial Guinea reported the first outbreak of the Marburg virus in February, and since then, the country has officially recorded nine cases, with an additional 20 probable cases, all of which have resulted in fatalities, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Tanzania, located about 1,800 miles (2,900 km) away from Equatorial Guinea, has also reported an outbreak of the Marburg virus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed eight cases in the country, including five fatalities.

The Marburg virus is a rare and highly fatal disease that causes symptoms such as fever, chills, muscle pain, rash, sore throat, diarrhoea, weakness, and unexplained bleeding or bruising. The CDC warns that the virus can be transmitted through the blood or body fluids of an infected person, as well as through contact with contaminated objects such as clothing, bedding, needles, and medical equipment. Animals, particularly bats, can also spread the virus to humans.

In 2018, after tourists and villagers near the Queen Elizabeth National Park and the adjoining Maramagambo Forest in Uganda experienced outbreaks of the virus, CDC scientists conducted a study to better understand how the virus is transmitted to humans. They fitted GPS units on the backs of bats to track their movements and investigate where the bats go at night, according to the CDC.

What is the treatment for the Marburg virus?

There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus. However, supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival. 

The rare virus was first identified in 1967 after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in Marburg, Germany and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven people died who were exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.

Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%. It is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.

The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.