MARBURG VIRUS DISEASE – TANZANIA (04): (KAGERA) UPDATE
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Date: Thu 23 Jan 2025
Source: AFP – Agence France Presse [edited]
https://www.barrons.com/news/death-toll-from-tanzania-marburg-outbreak-rises-to-nine-252cad44
An outbreak of the Marburg virus has killed 9 people in Tanzania,
Africa’s health agency said Thursday [23 Jan 2025], up from 8
suspected deaths reported by the World Health Organization last week.
The east African nation on Monday [20 Jan 2025] confirmed the 2nd
outbreak of the deadly virus in its history, following a 2023 outbreak
that killed 6 people, but has not commented on any recent fatality
figures.
In a weekly briefing, the African Union’s Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention (Africa CDC) said “there have been 10 cases that have
been notified, of which 9 have already died”. Ngashi Ngongo, Africa
CDC’s chief of staff and head of the executive office, told an online
briefing that the figures reflected “the very high case fatality of
Marburg”. “We are doing everything we can with WHO and all the
partners.”
He said that teams — including members who had already countered a
recent outbreak in neighbouring Rwanda — were already “on the
ground”.
From the 10 cases “about 281 contacts have been listed and are being
followed”, he said, praising the tracking of the virus so far.
“There have been a total of 31 tests that have been conducted, 2
confirmed, and 29 I think, that are negative,” he said.
In response to a query on differences between the numbers that have
been reported, Ngongo said: “We trust the results.”
Ngongo added that the Tanzania’s government had submitted a USD 10.8
million response plan, with the health agency waiting for the
administration to have “finalised and also requested the support that
they need from Africa CDC”.
It comes a month after WHO declared the end of a 3-month Marburg
outbreak in neighbouring Rwanda which killed 15 people.
The virus causes a highly infectious haemorrhagic fever. It is
transmitted from fruit bats and belongs to the same family of viruses
as Ebola. With a fatality rate that can reach close to 90%, Marburg
fever is often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.