The Marburg virus, which first emerged in Equatorial Guinea (a close relative of the Ebola virus, which also causes a deadly hemorrhagic fever), continues to spread, spreading over large geographic areas as chains of infection may go undetected. said a World Health Organization official.
As of Wednesday morning, authorities in Equatorial Guinea had reported seven confirmed deaths and nine confirmed cases in three provinces since early February.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “However, these three states are 150 kilometers apart, suggesting a wider spread of the virus.” Wednesday press conference.
In addition, there are 20 probable cases related to the confirmed cases, all of which have died.
A WHO official said that while working with officials in Equatorial Guinea, local field workers are also helping to respond to the outbreak in the affected areas. is aware of additional laboratory-confirmed cases that have not been reported by authorities.
“WHO is aware of additional cases and has asked the government to officially report these cases to WHO,” Tedros said.
of Facebook post viewed late Wednesday, Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Health and Human Services said there were now 13 cases and nine deaths confirmed as of March 28. The ministry said two cases had mild symptoms. He is hospitalized and authorities are tracing 825 contacts. It is unclear whether the new cases include all previously unreported cases identified by WHO.
At an earlier press conference, Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergency Program, expressed frustration at the delay in reporting.
high risk
“There’s always a slight delay between an incident being confirmed on the scene and an official report arriving, but that’s not my concern,” Ryan said. He stressed that this must be done as quickly as possible during the epidemic so that those affected can protect themselves. And especially when it concerns newly affected areas, it impedes the process of alerting communities and motivating them to take action to protect themselves and their families,” he said. This is not just a legal requirement under some international law [to report cases to WHO]This is a sovereign and solemn request for all states to inform their citizens of what is happening in their country. “
The outbreak now spans three of Equatorial Guinea’s five continental states. Centro Sur covers the center of the country, from the border with Cameroon in the north to the border with Gabon in the south. The province of Kie Ntem, in the northeast corner, borders Cameroon and parts of Gabon to the east. Some cases have been confirmed in the Litoral port city of Bata, with an estimated population of nearly 500,000.
As all affected states border Cameroon and Gabon, WHO has assessed the risk of a multinational outbreak as high.
“Cross-border population movements are frequent and borders are highly porous. [Marburg virus disease] Cases have been reported outside Equatorial Guinea, and the risk of international spread cannot be ruled out,” WHO reported. Recent outbreak updates.
Outbreaks of Marburg disease, which are thought to be caused when the virus is transmitted to humans from intermediate animals such as bats and monkeys, tend to be small and infrequent. Since the virus he was first recognized in 1967, there have been 17 or so outbreaks, mostly with only single digit confirmed cases. The largest outbreak in 2004-2005 in Angola resulted in 252 confirmed cases and 227 deaths (case fatality rate 90%).
Tanzania this month First occurrence of Marburg diseaseSo far, there have been eight confirmed cases and five deaths, all in one region.
