LIBREVILLE, Gabon – The UN’s well being company on Thursday declared an finish to an almost four-month epidemic of Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea, saying the illness, a cousin of Ebola, had induced 35 confirmed or suspected deaths.
“The outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease in Equatorial Guinea ended today with no new cases reported over the past 42 days after the last patient was discharged from treatment,” the World Health Organization (WHO) mentioned in a press release.
The extremely virulent microbe causes extreme fever, usually accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.
It is a part of the so-called filovirus household that features Ebola hemorrhagic fever, which has induced a number of lethal epidemics in western and central Africa.
The outbreak, declared on February 13, was the primary of its sort in Equatorial Guinea, a small coastal state in central-western Africa.
“A total of 17 laboratory-confirmed cases and 12 deaths were recorded. All the 23 probable cases reported died,” the WHO mentioned.
“Four patients recovered from the virus and have been enrolled in a survivors program to receive psychosocial and other post-recovery support,” it added.
The assertion paid tribute to native well being staff and help by accomplice organizations for the “hard work” in tackling the outbreak, a lot of which entails tracing and isolating folks in touch with sufferers.
Tanzania outbreak
The epidemic in Equatorial Guinea coincided with an outbreak of Marburg on the opposite facet of the continent, in Tanzania. Six folks died in a two-month episode, which was formally declared over on June 2.
The first outbreak of Marburg in Africa was recorded in South Africa in 1975.
Outbreaks or sporadic instances have been additionally reported in Kenya, Angola, Ghana, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, in addition to Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania this 12 months.
The suspected pure supply of the 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 % to 88 % in earlier outbreaks, relying on the virus pressure and case administration, in keeping with WHO.
There are at present no vaccines or antiviral remedies, however potential remedies, together with blood merchandise, immune therapies and drug therapies, in addition to early candidate vaccines, are being evaluated.
The virus takes its title from the German metropolis of Marburg, the place it was first recognized in 1967, in a lab the place staff had been in touch with contaminated inexperienced monkeys imported from Uganda. — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
