7 deaths in Equatorial Guinea from Marburg virus, 20 others likely linked — WHO

MALABO, Equitorial Guinea, March 24 -----Seven people have been killed in an outbreak of Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea, with a further 20 deaths "probably" due to the hemorrhagic fever, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The outbreak of the virus, which is almost as deadly as Ebola, has now spread beyond the province of Kie-Ntem, where it caused the first known deaths in January. It has reached Bata, the economic capital of the small central African country, according to the government.

The spread of Marburg "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, the WHO's regional director for Africa. Since the start of the outbreak, "there have been a total of nine laboratory-confirmed cases and 20 probable cases", the WHO said in a report on its website. "Of the nine laboratory-confirmed cases, seven people have died and all probable cases have died. "Among the 20 probable cases, the patients had all the symptoms of the disease and had been in contact with confirmed cases, but samples could not be taken from their bodies, or they could not be treated.

The animals can pass the virus to primates in close proximity, including humans, and human-to-human transmission then occurs through contact with blood or other body fluids. Fatality rates in confirmed cases have ranged from 24 percent to 88 percent in previous outbreaks, depending on the virus strain and case management also there are currently no vaccines or antiviral treatments, but potential treatments, including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies, as well as early candidate vaccines, are being evaluated, the WHO says.

Source: gmanetwork.com