Category: Marburg Virus
Lethal Marburg virus is on the rise in Rwanda: why scientists are worried
Nature There is no proven vaccine or treatment for infections with the virus, which is closely related to Ebola virus and causes similar symptoms. It is an outbreak of superlatives. One of the deadliest known viruses, Marburg, has emerged in Rwanda, killing 13 people and sickening 58 in one of the biggest Marburg outbreaks ever documented. […]
Oct 8, 2024
What to Know About the Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak
NYT In Rwanda, 11 deaths have been reported from this rare but deadly disease. Two people tested negative in Germany this week. Rwanda is in the midst of an outbreak of Marburg virus disease, a hemorrhagic fever with a high fatality rate that has killed 11 people there this year. The disease has been found […]
Oct 8, 2024
CDC to begin screening travelers from Rwanda for Ebola-like illness
NBC News Because of an outbreak of Marburg virus, travelers who have visited the African country recently will be screened for symptoms at three airports. U.S. health officials are preparing to screen passengers flying in from Rwanda for symptoms of Marburg virus, a severe infection similar to Ebola. “Starting mid-October, airline passengers who have been in […]
Oct 8, 2024
Marburg is an especially scary virus. How scared should we be of Rwanda’s outbreak?
NPR “Do not continue your daily activities” if you have a high fever, a severe headache, diarrhea or vomiting, urged Sabin Nsanzimana in a press conference this weekend. If you are healthy, live life as normal and do “not panic,” he said. But those feeling sick must seek immediate medical attention. Nsanzimana is Rwanda’s health minister — […]
Oct 2, 2024
Toll in Rwanda Marburg outbreak rises to 11
Medical Express Five more people in Rwanda have died of the deadly Ebola-like Marburg disease, bringing the number of fatalities to 11, the health ministry said late Tuesday. With a fatality rate of up to 88 percent, the highly infectious hemorrhagic fever is often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure. Some 29 people have been confirmed to […]
Oct 2, 2024
Deadly Marburg virus: scientists race to test vaccines in outbreak
Nature There are no approved treatments for the Ebola-like haemorrhagic fever, which is spreading in Rwanda. Researchers are in a race against time to deploy vaccines and treatments against a deadly virus that has exploded in Rwanda. As of 30 September, the central African country has recorded 27 cases and 9 deaths caused by Marburg virus, […]
Oct 2, 2024
CEPI Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe was a newly-qualified microbiologist working as a field epidemiologist when he got a call in 1976 to help investigate an outbreak. A pernicious disease had taken hold in the village of Yambuku in central Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. People were dying in large numbers of the infection – one that […]
Oct 2, 2024
MVD: UNICEF Rwanda Flash Update
Relief Web Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) outbreak was declared on 27 September 2024. UNICEF sourced from UNICEF Tanzania 19,200 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE), including boots, coveralls, face shields and gloves have arrived in-country. Additional procurement is being made including additional PPE as well as Water,Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) supplies to help the Ministry […]
Oct 1, 2024
Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda draws concern over possibility of international spread
STAT A large outbreak of Marburg virus in Rwanda is drawing international concern about the possibility of spread beyond the country’s borders. The number of cases detected so far, 27, already makes the outbreak one of the biggest involving Marburg on record. Nine of those individuals have died. There are currently no licensed vaccines to combat the disease. Most […]
Oct 1, 2024
Rwanda limits funeral sizes due to Marburg virus outbreak
BBC Rwandan authorities have restricted funeral sizes for victims of Marburg virus in an effort to curb an outbreak of the highly contagious disease. Eight people have died during Rwanda’s first outbreak of the virus, which was confirmed on Friday by the nation’s health ministry. Marburg, with a fatality rate of up to 88%, is […]
Oct 1, 2024