Rwanda’s health minister says authorities are tracing every potential contact of the index case in the country’s outbreak of Marburg virus disease to reduce the risk of wider spread. Rwanda is battling its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease, a deadly illness related to Ebola. The disease does not have any approved vaccines or treatments. As of October 6, the outbreak had infected 56 people and killed 12 of them, according to Rwanda’s Ministry of Health. With support from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and other partners, the Rwandan government is implementing rigorous testing, contact tracing and quarantine measures to contain the outbreak. A clinical trial of a vaccine candidate from Sabin Vaccine Institute will soon get underway following the delivery of about 700 doses on request by the Rwandan government.But challenges remain, including the disease symptoms’ similarity to those of malaria, the need for more rapid diagnostic tools and the fact that the majority of known infected people are healthcare workers.
The Rwandan government, the Africa CDC and others are working to contain the outbreak and are currently tracing the contacts of about 400 individuals with possible exposure to the virus. Cases have been identified in eight of the country’s 30 districts, with health care workers representing a staggering 80 percent of those confirmed to be infected. Concerns about possible international spread were heightened when Germany revealed that a medical student who had traveled to Rwanda and his partner had had contact with a confirmed case, but both later tested negative.