UPDATE: WHO Statement on Marburg Virus Disease in Uganda on Nov. 13.
It’s been 42 days since since a Kampala health care worker contracted and died from the Ebola “cousin”, Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) and there has not been any additional cases. This meets the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for being declared free of the virus.
State minister for primary health care, Sarah Opendi, made the announcement at news conference held in Kampala on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old medical technician died from Marburg on September 28, 11 days after falling ill in a Kampala hospital where he worked.
Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a rare, severe type of hemorrhagic fever which affects both humans and non-human primates. Caused by a genetically unique zoonotic (that is,animal-borne) RNA virus of the filovirus family, its recognition led to the creation of this virus family. The five species of Ebolavirus are the only other known members of the filovirus family.
Recent scientific studies implicate the African fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) as the reservoir host of the Marburg virus. The African fruit bat is a sighted, cave-dwelling bat which is widely distributed across Africa. Fruit bats infected with Marburg virus do not to show obvious signs of illness. Primates, including humans, can become infected with Marburg virus, which can progress to serious disease with high mortality.
Just how the animal host first transmits Marburg virus to humans is unknown.
Related: The World’s Deadliest Viruses
After an incubation period of 5-10 days, the onset of the disease is sudden and is marked by fever, chills, headache, and myalgia. Around the fifth day after the onset of symptoms, a maculopapular rash, most prominent on the trunk (chest, back, stomach), may occur. Nausea, vomiting, chest pain, a sore throat, abdominal pain, and diarrhea then may appear. Symptoms become increasingly severe and may include jaundice, inflammation of the pancreas, severe weight loss, delirium, shock, liver failure, massive hemorrhaging, and multi-organ dysfunction. The case-fatality rate for Marburg hemorrhagic fever outbreaks is between 23-88%.
Confirmed cases of Marburg HF have been reported in Uganda, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Angola. Cases of Marburg HF have occurred outside Africa, though infrequently.
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I thank the Ministry of Health Uganda Government for the effort rendered to fight Murburg Disease.Please keep up the same spirit even in fighting DIABETES which is common among the people here in Uganda.
THANK YOU.