MADRID Jan 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced this Tuesday that a “suspicious” outbreak of the Marburg virus in Kagera, a region in northwest Tanzania, has killed eight of the nine people diagnosed. .
“So far, we are aware of nine cases, including eight people who have died. It is expected that more cases will occur in the coming days as surveillance of the disease improves,” he indicated in a statement posted on his account. from social network X.
Tedros has assured that the WHO has offered “all its assistance” to the Tanzanian authorities and the communities affected by this “suspected outbreak of viral disease” of which it informed its Member States as well as the States Parties of the International Health Regulations (IHR).
Likewise, he has recommended that the neighbors of the African country “be alert and prepared to manage possible cases” of this disease, which he has said is “infectious, serious and often fatal”, although he has assured that “restrictions are not necessary.” travel or trade with Tanzania at this time.
This information comes after in mid-December 2024 the authorities of Rwanda, a country with which Tanzania shares a border, declared the end of an outbreak of the same virus declared months before, leaving at least 66 confirmed cases, with a total of 15 deceased.
Marburg virus is transmitted to humans from fruit tree bats and has a mortality rate between 25 and 90 percent depending on how quickly it is treated. Symptoms of the infection include headache, vomiting blood, and muscle pain.
There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus, which has similarities to Ebola. To increase the survival of those infected, maintenance therapy (oral or intravenous rehydration) and symptomatic treatment are used.
In Africa, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea.
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