Marburg's virus is rare among people, but it is highly infectious once it finds a human host. According to WHO, it is a fatal disease with a mortality rate of around 50%. During a 2005 outbreak of the Marburg virus in Angola, the death rate among the patients was as high as 88%. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments currently approved to treat the virus.
As per WHO, the viral fever is confirmed to have killed at least one person in the country and is linked to another eight deaths. Reportedly, there are 16 other suspected cases in the country. The virus outbreak started in Ghana in July 2022. Also, this virus is said to be difficult to diagnose. The virus is highly contagious even after death through corpses.
Common symptoms of the Marburg virus include hemorrhagic fever, fatigue, blood-stained vomit, and diarrhea. The disease often begins abruptly with a high fever, a bad headache, and malaise. Muscle aches and cramps can accompany the onset, as well as jaundice, nausea, and pain in the abdomen.
Patients can experience deep-set eyes, expressionless faces, and severe lethargy around day three, and death often occurs between eight and nine days preceded by blood loss and shock. Only supportive care, treatment of specific symptoms, and rehydration can improve patients' chances of survival. The virus, transmitted to humans via fruit bats, was first found in humans in 1967.
The virus spreads through contact (such as through broken skin or mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, or mouth) with: Blood or body fluids (urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, amniotic fluid, and semen) of a person who is sick with or died from Marburg virus disease.
Historically, the people at highest risk include family members and hospital staff who care for patients infected with Marburg virus and have not used proper infection prevention and control measures.
There is no specific treatment for Marburg virus disease. Supportive hospital therapy should be utilized, which includes balancing the patient's fluids and electrolytes, maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure, replacing lost blood and clotting factors, and treatment for any complicating infections.
No approved vaccines or specific therapies are available for MARV disease, aside from supportive care. While some experimental vaccines have previously been tested, none have proven to be both highly effective and to provide durable protection.
Once an individual is infected with the virus, Marburg can spread through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with ...
Symptoms become increasingly severe and can include jaundice, inflammation of the pancreas, severe weight loss, delirium, shock, liver failure, massive hemorrhaging, and multi-organ dysfunction. There is no specific treatment for Marburg hemorrhagic fever.
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