Marburg outbreak under control

Rwanda has an outbreak of Marburg virus.

 

 

there is an experimental vaccine for the Marburg virus.

this is from the WHO site:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/marburg-virus-disease

Marburg virus disease (MVD), formerly known as Marburg haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. The average MVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks. Early supportive care with rehydration, and symptomatic treatment improves survival. There are currently no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments for MVD, but a range of vaccines and drug therapies are under development. Rousettus aegyptiacus, a fruit bat of the Pteropodidae family, is considered the natural host of Marburg virus. The Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission. Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks.

there was an outbreak in Zimbabwe when I was there according to this site. But you know, we had isolated cases of severe hemorrhagic fever of unknown origin, so I wonder if this was marburg not diagnosed.

apparently it ccan spread person to person but this requires contact with body fluids.

Once introduced in the human population, Marburg virus can spread through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids. Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed MVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced. Transmission via contaminated injection equipment or through needle-stick injuries is associated with more severe disease, rapid deterioration, and, possibly, a higher fatality rate. Burial ceremonies that involve direct contact with the body of the deceased can also contribute in the transmission of Marburg virus.

Lassa fever is another hemorragic disease in western Africa.

Yes there is an Ecohealth link: Poor guys they were wanting to investigate these diseases but because they were behind the Wuhan debacle they didn't get their funded.

Ecohealth also wanted to place a multimillion dollar lab here in the Philippines and was stopped when the local senators found that the grant was from the US Dept of Defense, not from the HHS or another civilian health department.