SIX people have died in a major outbreak of Marburg disease in Africa – an Ebola-like bug that kills up to 90 per cent of those it infects.
At least 26 cases have been reported since the outbreak was first confirmed in Rwanda on Friday, the health minister has announced.
It’s the first time the disease, which causes uncontrolled bleeding from different body parts including the eyes, has been reported in the East African country.
While the source of the outbreak is not known, cases have been spotted in six of the country’s 30 districts, suggesting it may be widespread.
The majority of cases so far recorded have been reported by healthcare staff in and around the country’s capital Kigali.
The city is home to 1.2million people and has a well-connected airport, raising fears of international spread.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is deploying experts and outbreak response tools to Rwanda to help curb the virus.
Hospital patient visits have been banned for two weeks and funeral services have been restricted.
Emergency medical supplies are expected to land in Kigali in the coming days.
The agency is also coordinating efforts to reinforce cross-border measures in Rwanda’s neighbouring countries to stop further spread.
Marburg is already on the WHO’s official watchlist of ‘priority pathogens‘ that could trigger the next pandemic.
The virus spreads to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, and mucus.
Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, muscle pains, diarrhoea, and vomiting.
In severe cases, death occurs from extreme blood loss.
There are no approved treatments, but a range of vaccines are currently in development.
What is Marburg virus?
Marburg is a filovirus like its more famous cousin, Ebola.
These are part of a broader group of viruses that can cause viral haemorrhagic fever, a syndrome of fever and bleeding.
The first outbreaks occurred in 1967 in lab workers in Germany and Yugoslavia who were working with African green monkeys imported from Uganda.
The virus was identified in a lab in Marburg, Germany.
Since then, outbreaks have occurred in a handful of countries in Africa, less frequently than Ebola.
Marburg’s natural host is a fruit bat, but it can also infect primates, pigs and other animals.
Human outbreaks start after a person has contact with an infected animal.
It’s spread between people mainly through direct contact, especially with bodily fluids, and it causes an illness like Ebola, with fever, headache and malaise, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, and aches and pains.
The bleeding follows about five days later, and it can be fatal in up to 90 per cent of people infected.
Rwandan authorities have urged the public to stay vigilant, wash their hands with clean water and soap, and report all suspected cases.
Last year, an epidemic outbreak of Marburg virus broke out in Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa for the first time.
At least 16 people cases were detected, and nine people died.
