Image with electron microscopy of the Marburg virus. Image: CDC / Frederick Murphy
A deadly cousin of the Ebola virus has reached a new part of the world. This week, World Health Organization officials announced that the African nation of Ghana is experiencing its first documented outbreak of Marburg. At least two people have contracted the disease so far, both have died.
Marburg is caused by the Marburg virus, named after the German city where one of the first documented outbreaks of the virus occurred in 1967, an outbreak that occurred when laboratory workers were exposed to infected monkeys imported from Africa. Its usual host is the African fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus).
Both Marburg and Ebola belong to the same family of filoviruses and cause very similar symptoms in humans. These symptoms initially include a flu-like illness, followed by rash, vomiting, chest pain in the chest, and diarrhea. The infection can then quickly endanger life, causing internal bleeding, organ failure, and shock. Its mortality rate can range from 23% to 90%.
Marburg has been spilled on humans much less frequently than Ebola. The largest documented outbreak in Marburg occurred in Angola between 2004 and 2005 and left more than 200 dead. The largest outbreak of Ebola, mainly in West Africa, sickened some 30,000 people and killed 11,000 between 2014 and 2016. Our greater familiarity with Ebola has allowed us to develop effective antivirals and a vaccine against him, while there are currently no specific options for Marburg. This is the second time Marburg has been documented in West Africa in so many years, after a single case reported in Guinea in September 2021.
The two cases in Ghana were unrelated, but the two victims lived in the southern Ashanti region. They had also sought care at the same hospital a few days apart in late June. Samples from each patient were tested by two laboratories, one of which is affiliated with the WHO, and both confirmed Marburg’s presence.
“Health authorities have responded quickly and have begun to prepare for a possible outbreak. This is good because without immediate and decisive action, Marburg can be easily out of control,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for in Africa, in a statement.
More than 90 patient contacts have been identified by authorities, including health workers, and are now being monitored.
“The WHO is supporting the health authorities and now that the outbreak is being declared, we are gathering more resources for the response,” Moeti said.