MALABO, Equatorial Guinea – The demise toll in Equatorial Guinea from an outbreak of Marburg virus, a cousin of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, has risen to 12, the well being ministry mentioned on Monday.
The figures are a provisional toll based mostly on lab-confirmed checks as of April 21, it mentioned in an replace, including that 116 individuals had been at present being monitored as contact dangers.
The first identified deaths had been documented on January 7 within the japanese province of Kie-Ntem earlier than the outbreak unfold to Bata, the West African nation’s financial capital.
The newest identified fatality occurred on April 11, the ministry mentioned.
Marburg causes extreme fever, typically accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.
It is a part of the so-called filovirus household that features Ebola, which has brought on a number of lethal epidemics in western and central Africa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) final month urged Equatorial Guinea to report all virus instances to it. The company’s concern is {that a} wide-scale epidemic may erupt, affecting neighboring Gabon and Cameroon.
The suspected pure supply of the Marburg virus is the African fruit bat, which carries the pathogen however doesn’t fall sick from it.
Fatality charges in confirmed instances have ranged from 24 p.c to 88 p.c in earlier outbreaks, relying on the virus pressure and case administration, based on WHO.
There are at present no vaccines or antiviral therapies, however potential therapies, together with blood merchandise, immune therapies and drug therapies, in addition to early candidate vaccines, are being evaluated.
The virus takes its identify from the German metropolis of Marburg, the place it was first recognized in 1967, in a lab the place staff had been involved with contaminated inexperienced monkeys imported from Uganda. — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
