Tanzania's Ministry of Health recently said that the mysterious disease that claimed five lives has been determined to be Marburg virus hemorrhagic fever. Marburg virus is a highly dangerous microorganism that causes severe high fever, often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.
The medical community believes that Marburg virus and Ebola virus belong to the same family and belong to the filoviridae family, which is a zoonotic infectious disease.
African fruit bats, a highly suspected natural source of Marburg virus, carry pathogens but do not get sick. These animals can transmit the virus to primates in close contact, including humans, and then human-to-human transmission occurs through contact with blood or other bodily fluids.
The virus takes its name from the German city of Marburg, where it was first discovered in 1967 in a laboratory where workers came into contact with infected green monkeys imported from Uganda.
In Tanzania, several patients with confirmed Marburg virus have died, with five of the first eight patients dying and three others admitted to hospital. All patients showed symptoms similar to those infected with Marburg virus, namely fever, vomiting, bleeding, and kidney failure.
The area of incidence is close to the Ugandan border. The World Health Organization commended local authorities for their rapid response to the outbreak. Tanzania last week sent a rapid reaction force to the northwest of Kajira, an area bordering Uganda.
Tanzania's Minister of Health, Variam, said: "Our public health laboratory has confirmed that the disease is caused by Marburg virus. She called on people to remain calm and not to panic, as the government has controlled the spread of Marburg virus.
Varim said that three patients are currently being treated in hospital and 161 contacts have been listed as tracing targets by the authorities.
Varim said. "There is no need to panic or suspend economic activity because Tanzania is not the first country to break out. We have everything we need to control this infectious disease. ”
WHO has said more experts in epidemiology, logistics, health operations and infection prevention and control will be deployed in the coming days. There is currently no vaccine or antiviral treatment, but potential treatments are being evaluated, including blood products, immunotherapy and drug therapies, as well as early vaccine candidates.
WHO is also supporting health authorities in neighbouring Cameroon and Gabon to strengthen outbreak preparedness and response capacities.