On Monday, the nation formally proclaimed the first case of the Marburg virus sickness.
In response to Equatorial Guinea’s confirmation of an epidemic of the Marburg virus, a deadly and extremely contagious illness comparable to Ebola, which claimed nine lives in the African nation, the World Health Organization (WHO) has “intensified” surveillance.
In order to explore possible vaccines and treatments for the virus as well as to set priorities for future research, the UN agency called an urgent meeting on Tuesday with a representative of the Marburg virus vaccine consortium (MARVAC).
“Surveillance in the field has been intensified,” said George Ameh, WHO’s country representative in Equatorial Guinea. “Contact tracing, as you know, is a cornerstone of the response. We have … redeployed the COVID-19 teams that were there for contact tracing and quickly retrofitted them to really help us out.”
In order to strengthen the nation’s response, the WHO also sent out experts in epidemiology, case management, infection prevention, laboratory, and risk communication.
Following the discovery of an unidentified haemorrhagic fever last week, Equatorial Guinea detained more than 200 persons and limited travel in the Kie-Ntem area.
On Monday, the nation formally proclaimed the first case of the Marburg virus sickness. Equatorial Guinea has also reported 16 probable cases of the virus in addition to the fatalities.
“Marburg is highly infectious. Thanks to the rapid and decisive action by the Equatorial Guinean authorities in confirming the disease, emergency response can get to full steam quickly so that we save lives and halt the virus as soon as possible,” said WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti on Monday.
Neighboring Cameroon restricted movements along its border last week for fear of contagion and, on Tuesday, it detected two suspected cases.
The Marburg virus: what do we know?
The Marburg virus sickness has a fatality rate of up to 88 percent and is a “very virulent disease that causes hemorrhagic fever,” according to the WHO.
Antiviral medications and vaccinations are not licensed.
In Africa, Ghana, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda have all experienced prior epidemics. Both Europe and the United States have experienced outbreaks.
The Marburg virus, which belongs to the same family as Ebola, was first discovered in 1967 in what was then Yugoslavia after study on imported African green monkeys.
According to the WHO, infection “first comes from prolonged exposure to mines or caverns where Rousettus bat colonies are present.”
Once a person is infected, the disease can be transmitted from one person to another by direct contact with the blood, organs, or other body fluids of an infected person as well as through surfaces and materials that have previously been contaminated with these fluids.
