On Sunday, the west African nation of Ghana reported its first-ever outbreak of the Marburg virus, which is similar to Ebola..In a press release, the Ghana Health Service and the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed two patients in the southern region of Ghana tested positive for the virus..Marburg is almost as deadly as Ebola. There are no treatments or vaccines for the Marburg virus..It causes a “severe viral hemorrhagic fever” and in previous outbreaks, the fatality rates have been between 24% to 88%..Ebola’s fatality rates varied between 25% to 90% in previous outbreaks..According to the WHO, no treatments or vaccines exist for Marburg..“Health authorities have responded swiftly, getting a head start preparing for a possible outbreak. This is good because without immediate and decisive action, Marburg can easily get out of hand,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said in a statement on Sunday. .“WHO is on the ground supporting health authorities and now that the outbreak is declared, we are marshalling more resources for the response.”.On June 26, the first case was a 26-year-old man who went to hospital and died the next day..On June 28, the second case of a 51-year-old man went to the same hospital and died later that day..The two patients are not related, but had similar symptoms, including “diarrhea, fever, nausea, and vomiting,” said the WHO in a Sunday press release..Currently, 98 people are under quarantine and monitored by the Ghana Health Service in two different regions with no new cases as of Tuesday..The virus is transmitted from fruit bats to humans and spreads person-to-person through contact with bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces, and materials..Infected individuals develop symptoms rapidly with a “high fever, severe headache, and malaise … Many patients develop severe hemorrhagic signs within seven days,” said the WHO..This is the second time Marburg was detected in West Africa; Guinea had a single case, but the WHO declared the outbreak over after five weeks in September 2021..According to the WHO, the biggest Marburg outbreak infected and killed more than 200 people in Angola between 2004 and 2005..Ghana’s “high-risk neighbours” are now “on alert” after the WHO warned about the outbreak spreading across borders..The largest Ebola outbreak happened between 2013 and 2016, infecting more than 28,000 people and killing more than 11,000 across several countries, but mainly in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone..Marburg is treated with supportive care, which includes rehydration and treatments for each specific symptom..Currently, the Marburg vaccine is still in phase 1 trials.
