Transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of Marburg virus. Marburg virus, first recognized in … [+]
A human sample in Tanzania has tested positive for the deadly Marburg virus, confirming that the disease is present in the African country.
Last week, the World Health Organization said it suspected the virus was behind eight deaths in the northwestern Kagera region – a claim Tanzanian officials initially disputed, according to Associated Press.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced the positive test on Monday alongside WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Laboratory tests carried out at the Kabaile Mobile Laboratory in Kagera and later confirmed in Dar es Salaam identified one patient as infected with the Marburg virus,” she told a news conference in the central city of Dodoma. “Thankfully, the remaining suspected patients tested negative.”
Tedros said the WHO would work with Tanzania to “bring the outbreak under control as soon as possible”. The organization is supporting the country to monitor, test and treat the disease, as well as raise awareness in at-risk communities.
What is Marburg virus?
The Marburg virus is a dangerous pathogen similar to the Ebola virus. It can cause fever, muscle pain, diarrhea and vomiting in humans. Within about a week, it can lead to severe blood loss and eventually death.
The disease is very virulent and kills a large proportion of those it infects. Mortality estimates vary between outbreaks from 24% to 88% of people who contracted the disease. On average, the mortality rate is about 50%.
How is the Marburg virus spread?
Marburg virus is spread from certain bats to humans and other primates. People usually get the disease after spending time in caves where bats live. But they can also catch it from infected monkeys. Once infected, people can pass it to others through their bodily fluids, but only after they start showing symptoms.
Unlike more contagious diseases like COVID-19, transmission of the Marburg virus requires direct contact with infected body fluid. “Direct contact” means that this fluid must touch an open wound or a mucous membrane such as those lining the mouth, lips, ears, nose, eyes, eyelids, lungs, stomach, genital areas, and anus.
Bedding, clothing and surfaces contaminated with infected body fluids can also transmit the disease.
Health care workers are at particular risk of contracting the Marburg virus. Not only are they likely to handle contaminated sheets, surfaces and medical equipment, but they may suffer needlestick injuries, which are associated with more severe cases of the disease.
What is the risk of spreading the Marburg virus?
The WHO considers Tanzania and the wider region to be at “high” risk from the Marburg virus. Kagera is a transport hub and some cases are thought to have been discovered near the country’s border. Officials are concerned there is a chance it could spread to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda declared a separate outbreak “over” last month after it infected at least 66 people and tragically killed 15 between September and November 2024.
The global risk from the disease is considered low. So far there are no international cases. Because of the way it spreads, it does not pose the same risk of infection as a disease like COVID-19.
Cases and outbreaks have been reported mainly in central, eastern and southern and south-eastern Africa, but some have occurred elsewhere. The first recorded cases of the disease affected researchers in Europe who had imported green monkeys from Uganda.
No one has ever caught the disease in the US, but a tourist who had visited Uganda on a safari vacation was diagnosed after returning home in 2008. She did not spread the virus to anyone else.
