Ethiopia's Health Ministry Reports No Active Marburg Cases
Ethiopia's Ministry of Health has announced that there have been no active cases of the deadly Marburg virus reported in Jinka town, southern Ethiopia, since last Friday. This follows the confirmation of six deaths from the virus earlier in the week.
Minister Mekdes Daba assured the public that coordinated efforts are in place to identify and isolate individuals who may have been exposed to the virus. The Ethiopian government's confirmation of the outbreak on November 14th was based on laboratory testing of samples from a cluster of suspected viral haemorrhagic fever cases.
This outbreak marks the first instance of Marburg in the country. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) acknowledged the outbreak and is conducting further investigations and laboratory analysis. The virus strain detected is similar to those previously identified in East Africa.
The Marburg virus, a highly contagious pathogen with a high fatality rate, causes haemorrhagic fever. Symptoms, including high fever and severe headaches, typically appear within a week of exposure. It belongs to the same virus family as Ebola, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
On November 13th, the WHO deployed an emergency team and medical supplies to support Ethiopian health authorities in investigating suspected cases of viral haemorrhagic fever in the Southern Ethiopia Region. So far, eight suspected cases have been reported, with ongoing laboratory tests at EPHI to confirm the cause.
Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have previously been reported in Rwanda, Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda.
