The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed a total of 15 cases of Marburg disease infection in Equatorial Guinea and 11 deaths, figures released last week by the African country.
Since the previous report on the illness was published on March 22, with data from March 21, the WHO confirmed, in a statement, that the new reports registered “six additional cases confirmed in the Marburg doença laboratory” reported in Equatorial Guinea.
The new balance “brings the total to 15 laboratory-confirmed cases and 23 probable cases since the outbreak was declared on February 13, 2023.”
Among the laboratory-confirmed cases “there are 11 deaths (fatality ratio 78.6%, for a confirmed case the result is unknown), and all probable cases are dead,” says the WHO.
The most affected district is Bata, in the province of Litoral, with nine cases confirmed by the laboratory, it advances.
The WHO also says in the note that it supports the country’s Ministry of Health, strengthening different pillars of response to the disease, not limited to surveillance, including at points of entry, laboratory, case management, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community. intervention.
On March 30, the WHO assessed the public health risk posed by this disease outbreak “as very high at the national level, high at the subregional level, moderate at the regional level, and low at the global level.”
In the note issued on Saturday, the WHO advises restrictions on travel and international trade in Equatorial Guinea.
On February 13, the Equatorial Guinean Ministry of Health and Social Welfare declared a Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) outbreak following suspected deaths from viral hemorrhagic fever between January 7 and February 7, 2023, and one case tested positive on February 12 for the Marburg virus by actual test. -Polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal.
On April 11, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health released a new provisional death toll from the Marburg virus epidemic, which has already confirmed 11 deaths.
The most recent death registered by the authorities due to the epidemic, which has been going on for about three months, was registered on April 3, he said.
In its statement, published on the social network Twitter, the ministry also mentioned 15 positive cases, none of which were hospitalized, and 385 contact cases that were being followed up, compared to the 604 that had been reported the previous week.
Cases of this type of hemorrhagic fever have spread from the eastern province of Kie-Ntem, where it caused the first known deaths on January 7, to Bata, the economic capital of the small Central African country, where nine cases have been confirmed, according to with the authorities.
Two weeks before this report, the WHO urged Equatorial Guinea to report cases of the Marburg virus, fearing a potential “large-scale epidemic” that could affect neighboring Gabon and Cameroon.
And he announced the deployment of “additional experts” and said he was “also helping Gabon and Cameroon to strengthen preparedness and response to the epidemic.”
The virus is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people or with surfaces and materials.
The mortality rate is up to 88%.
There is no approved vaccine or antiviral treatment for the virus, however supportive care (oral or intravenous rehydration) and treatment of specific symptoms increase the chances of survival.
Source: TSF
