The World Health Organization held a rather “urgent meeting” on February 14, which is universally celebrated as the day of pious love, in order to discuss the new Marburg outbreak in Equatorial Guinea and possible vaccine and treatment candidates. COVID-19 has spread like wildfire since its first reported case in late 2019. With that being said, possible signs of a new virus outbreak has been on the edge ever since. The organization said it would send teams to the affected areas and send experts in epidemiology, case management, infection prevention, lab work, and risk communication to help with the national response. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said, “Marburg is very contagious.”
Due to the Equatorial Guinean government’s prompt and decisive action in confirming the disease, “emergency response can get to full steam quickly” to save lives and end the virus as soon as possible, Moeti stated. This week, WHO officials confirmed that the Marburg virus was actually first found in the west African country, where it has already killed at least nine people. The RNA virus that causes it belongs to the same family as the Ebola virus, Filoviridae. Both diseases are incredibly uncommon but can massively cause widespread epidemics with devastating effects. In previous outbreaks of Marburg, the fatality rate ranged from 24% to 88%, depending on the virus strain and the quality of case management. People who worked in mines and caves with colonies of Rousettus bats were most likely the first to be infected with Marburg because of their prolonged exposure to the virus. Unlike COVID, however, officials noted that the disease isn’t spread through the air. That could be one of the risk deducting factor, if at all.
Instead, it rapidly spreads from person to person through contact with infected blood, saliva, or urine, as well as contaminated surfaces and objects. Well, now that’s 10 times more dangerous, isn’t it? Family members and healthcare providers remain at risk to a massive extent even after a patient has been buried, as the disease can live on for some time in the body. In 1967, the disease was found after researchers in Marburg, Germany, Frankfurt, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia, got sick. According to the WHO, symptoms like high fever, severe headache, chills, and malaise can appear “abruptly.” Among the most frequently experienced signs and symptoms are aches and pains in the muscles of any part of the body. Some of the others go as high as catching jaundice, nausea and abdominal pain.
On day five, the CDC says a non-itchy rash might just appear on the chest, back, or even the stomach region. CDC officials warns that many of the symptoms of Marburg “can be difficult” to diagnose in a clinical setting because they are shared with other infectious diseases like malaria, typhoid fever, and Ebola. Death usually happens 8–9 days after the disease starts. Initially, the victim experiences lots of blood loss, bleeding, and problems with multiple organs. According to the WHO, those affected have a “ghost-like” appearance due to their lack of facial expression and extreme listlessness. There are no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments as of now which could assist in combating the Marburg virus. Rehydration through oral or intravenous fluids, maintaining adequate oxygen levels, employing drug therapies, and treating specific symptoms as they arise are all examples of supportive care that can increase the likelihood of survival.
