Equatorial Guinea Marburg virus death toll rises to 20
The Marburg virus epidemic in Equatorial Guinea has killed 20 people in the last two months, according to the World Health Organization on Thursday.
According to the authorities, the outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever, which is nearly as deadly as Ebola, has now extended beyond the province of Kie-Ntem, where it caused the first reported deaths in January, and has reached Bata, the small central African country's economic metropolis.
Marburg's spread "is a critical signal to scale up response efforts to quickly stop the chain of transmission and avert a potential large-scale outbreak and loss of life," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's regional director for Africa.
Between March 11-20, eight new cases were found, six of which proved deadly, the Equatorial Guinea government reported on its website, without giving a total toll since the beginning of the epidemic.
On February 28, the official death toll stood at 11.
According to the WHO, "so far, there are 20 probable cases and 20 deaths" in the country.
The latest cases have been recorded from the provinces of Kie-Ntem in the east, Litoral in the west, and Centro Sur in the south, all of which border Cameroon and Gabon.
As a result, the outbreak has become a major issue in three of Equatorial Guinea's four mainland regions.
Tanzania announced Tuesday that five people had died as a result of the virus, while Uganda, which had its last epidemic in 2017, said it was on "high alert."
Additional experts in epidemiology, logistics, health operations, and infection prevention and control will be sent in the coming days, according to the WHO.
In addition, the organization is assisting health officials in neighboring Cameroon and Gabon in increasing epidemic readiness and response capabilities.
The Marburg virus causes high fever, which is frequently accompanied with hemorrhage and organ failure.
It is a member of the filovirus family, which also includes Ebola, which has caused havoc in previous epidemics in Africa.
The African fruit bat, which carries the infection but does not get sick from it, is thought to be a natural source of the Marburg virus.
The virus was named after the German city of Marburg, where it was discovered in 1967 in a lab staffed by workers who had come into contact with sick green monkeys brought from Uganda.
The virus can be passed from the animals to nearby primates, including humans, and human-to-human transmission happens through contact with blood or other body fluids.
According to WHO, mortality rates in confirmed cases have ranged from 24% to 88% in previous epidemics, depending on the virus type and case care.
There are presently no vaccines or antiviral treatments available, but the WHO reports that prospective treatments, such as blood products, immunological therapies, and pharmacological therapies, as well as early candidate vaccines, are being examined.
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