Eight people have died from an outbreak of Marburg virus in Rwanda, most of the victims being healthcare workers, the country’s Health Minister has said.
Sabin Nsanzimana told the BBC that 26 cases have been identified since the first cases were confirmed on Friday.
Rwanda says it is intensifying contact tracing, surveillance and testing to help contain the spread, which is mostly being reported in the capital, Kigali.
Authorities have urged the public to avoid physical contact to help curb the spread, but some 300 people who came into contact with those confirmed to have the virus have also been identified, reports Al Jazeera.
An unspecified number of them have been put in isolation facilities, across six out of 30 districts in the country.
WHO monitoring situation
The World Health Organisation is scaling up its support and will work with Rwandan authorities, WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Marburg, with a fatality rate of up to 88%, is from the same virus family as Ebola, and while there are no specific treatments or a vaccine, a range of blood products, drug and immune therapies is being developed, according to the WHO.
In the past, Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have been recorded in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana.
This is the first time Marburg has been confirmed in Rwanda.
The rare virus was first identified in 1967 after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in Marburg, Germany and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven people died who were exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.
Al Jazeera article – Rwanda reports eight deaths linked to Marburg virus (Open access)
BBC article – Marburg virus outbreak kills six in Rwanda (Open access)
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