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University of Nebraska Medical Center

Rwanda: Exact Origin of Marburg Virus Identified, Says Minister Nsanzimana

All Africa The Minister of Health, Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, has said the Marburg virus that led to an outbreak on September 27 came from a cave where mining activities had been ongoing.

Initial findings of genomic sequencing indicated that the virus, which is transmitted by fruit bats, had come from animal to human, without passing through multiple hosts. “We managed to trace back and find that this outbreak came from zoonotic origin. And we were able to find the cave where these particular fruit buds were living with human activity, particularly, mining … and that’s where we found our index case,” Dr Nsanzimana said, without specifying where the cave is located.

Dr Nsanzimana said the One Health Initiative, a global strategy aimed at promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and communication about health care for humans, animals and the environment, was a crucial part in identifying the origin of the virus.

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