The World Health Organization has stepped up surveillance of the deadly Marburg virus, the spread of which is now a major concern.
The move comes after Equatorial Guinea confirmed an outbreak of a highly contagious virus believed to have killed 200 people in the African country.
Emerging Risks writes that there are fears that the virus is spreading rapidly and that WHO’s actions are seen as a concerted effort to stop the spread in the early stages. Neighboring Cameroon restricted movement along its border last week for fears of contamination, and said it found two suspected cases this week.
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The UN agency held an emergency meeting with a representative of the Marburg Virus Vaccine Consortium (MARVAC) on February 14 to discuss vaccine and therapeutic solutions for the virus and set research priorities.
“Local surveillance has been increased,” said WHO Representative for Equatorial Guinea, George Ameh. As you know, contact tracing is the cornerstone of response. We reassigned and quickly upgraded the COVID-19 teams there for contact tracing. They really helped us.”
WHO also said it has deployed emergency experts in epidemiology, case management, infection prevention, laboratories and risk communication to strengthen the country’s response.
Marburg virus disease is a rapidly contagious disease that causes hemorrhagic fever with a case fatality rate of up to 88%. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease.
The illness caused by the Marburg virus begins acutely with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. Many patients develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days. The virus is transmitted to humans from bats and spreads between humans through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces and materials of infected individuals.
Previously, Focus wrote about people who would never get sick with the coronovirus. Researchers analyze the DNA of people who are immune to the virus and look for unusual mutations that could explain the apparent resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Source: Focus
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