Two deaths from the Marburg virus and 98 people being quarantined in Ghana have raised concerns about a wider outbreak.
Vomiting, muscle aches, diarrhoea, fever, and, in rare instances, considerable blood loss that is fatal, are symptoms of the exceedingly contagious sickness.
Hundreds of people have already died from the illness, mostly in Africa.
Ghana claims that Guinea possesses the Marburg virus, which resembles the Ebola virus.
So what’s the Marburg virus?
The Marburg virus, which is connected to the similarly lethal Ebola virus, was first identified in 1967 during concurrent epidemics in which 31 people fell ill and 7 have passed away in:
- Frankfurt and Marburg, Germany
- Belgrade, Serbia
- Belgrade, Serbia
The Marburg virus was first discovered in an African green monkey.
The illness was connected to African green monkeys transported into Uganda.
Later studies, however, linked the virus to other mammals.
Those who work in mines and caverns where there are a lot of bats are the main carriers of the disease among humans.
Despite the fact that this is Ghana’s first epidemic, other African countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Congo, and Zimbabwe have all previously recorded instances.
In Angola, an outbreak in 2005 resulted in the deaths of almost 300 people.
Only one death occurred in the US and Europe in the preceding 40 years, both of which were the result of excursions to caverns in Uganda.
What sickness does it produce?
The Marburg virus strikes swiftly, causing fevers, headaches, and severe muscle pains.
These symptoms are typically followed three days later by nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain along with watery diarrhea.
According to the WHO, patients’ appearances at this point have been characterized to “ghost faces,” with deep-set eyes, expressionless faces, and extreme sluggishness.
Many people continue to bleed from various parts of the body due to extreme blood loss and shock, and they die eight to nine days after becoming ill.
The virus normally kills 50% of infected people, but the most severe strains have been reported to kill up to 88 percent of victims, according to the WHO.
How does it spread?
The Egyptian rousette fruit bat frequently carries the virus.
It can be transmitted by pigs and African green monkeys.
By coming into contact with contaminated bedding and human fluids, it spreads among people.
People’s blood or semen, for example, might continue to spread disease long after they have recovered.
What steps should be taken?
Both treatments and vaccines for the virus are unknown.
The WHO states that numerous blood items, medicines, and immunological treatments are being created.
Symtomps can be reduced by healthcare specialists by providing the infected parties with lots of
Doctors may also be able to lessen the symptoms by giving hospital patients plenty of liquids and replacing lost blood.
How does confinement work?
People in Africa should abstain from eating or touching bushmeat, according to Gavi, a global group that promotes immunization access.
In locations where an outbreak is taking place, the WHO urges people to avoid pigs.
Males infected with the the Marburg virus are highly advised to wear condoms for at least one year from the onset of infections signs or until their semen is free of the virus on two separate occasions.
The people who bury the bodies of persons who have passed away from the illness shouldn’t handle the bodies in any way.
