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The WHO stated Tuesday {that a} suspected outbreak of the lethal Marburg virus in Tanzania had killed eight folks, warning that the chance of additional unfold within the nation and area was “high”.
The United Nations well being company stated it had knowledgeable its member states on Monday of “an outbreak of suspected Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) in the Kagera region” of Tanzania.
“We are aware of nine cases so far, including eight people who have died. We would expect further cases in coming days as disease surveillance improves,” World Well being Group chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on social media platform X.
“WHO has offered its full assistance to the government of Tanzania, and to affected communities.”
The announcement got here lower than a month after WHO declared over a three-month Marburg outbreak in neighboring Rwanda, which killed 15 folks.
Marburg causes a extremely infectious hemorrhagic fever. It’s transmitted from fruit bats and belongs to the identical household of viruses as Ebola.
With a fatality fee that may attain near 90 p.c, Marburg’s fever is usually accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.
The Kagera area skilled its first Marburg outbreak in March 2023, lasting for practically two months, with 9 circumstances together with six deaths, WHO stated.
It identified that “zoonotic reservoirs, such as fruit bats, remain endemic to the area”.
WHO stated it assessed the chance on the nationwide degree as “high” attributable to a number of regarding elements.
These included the excessive recognized fatality fee of 89 p.c, that “the source of the outbreak is currently unknown” and that circumstances had been reported from two districts, suggesting “geographic spread”.
“The delayed detection and isolation of cases, coupled with ongoing contact tracing” indicated a scarcity of “full information” on the outbreak, it stated.
The UN well being company additionally estimated the regional danger as “high”, attributable to Kagera’s “strategic location as a transit hub with significant cross-border movement of population to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo”.
Reportedly, a number of the suspected circumstances have been in districts close to worldwide borders, it stated, “highlighting the potential for spread into neighboring countries”.
“We recommend neighboring countries be on alert and prepared to manage potential cases. We do not recommend travel or trade restrictions with Tanzania at this time,” Tedros stated on X.
WHO identified that Marburg is just not unfold simply, and sometimes requires contact with the physique fluids of a sick affected person with clear signs.
“However, it cannot be excluded that a person exposed to the virus may be traveling,” it stated.
It assessed the worldwide danger as “low”, stating that there was no affirmation of worldwide unfold at this stage, however stressing the necessity for enhanced surveillance.
© 2025 AFP
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Eight lifeless in suspected Marburg outbreak in Tanzania: WHO (2025, January 15)
retrieved 15 January 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-01-dead-marburg-outbreak-tanzania.html
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