NewsDesk @bactiman63
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the trend of the ongoing Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) outbreak in Equatorial Guinea is worrying with the increased number of new confirmed cases reported.
Overall, from 13 February (when the outbreak was officially declared in the country) to 21 March, a cumulative number of nine confirmed, 20 probable cases and six suspected cases (35 total) have been recorded in Equatorial Guinea from three affected provinces: Centro-Sud, Littoral and Kie-Ntem (The areas reporting cases are about 150 kilometres apart).
Among the nine laboratory confirmed cases, seven have died, and all probable cases are dead for a total of 27.
This gives a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 77.1% for all 35 epidemiologically linked cases reported so far.
WHO says the recent report of new confirmed cases calls for intensification of the ongoing response activities to contain this outbreak as quickly as possible. The wide geographic distribution of cases suggests the potential for undetected community spread of the virus especially since cases have been
reported from very distant areas. The two neighboring countries (Cameroon and Gabon) should scale up readiness activities to be able to detect potential cases as early as possible.
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