The Tanzanian health ministry on Tuesday confirmed the country’s first-ever cases of Marburg Virus Disease after laboratory tests were carried out following reports of cases and deaths in the north-west Kagera region, reported Reuters.
“Our public health laboratory results have confirmed that this disease is caused by the Marburg virus,” Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said.
Mwalimu urged citizens to remain calm as the government has managed to control the spread of the disease. She added that three patients are currently receiving treatment at the hospital while the authorities continue to trace 161 contacts.
The Tanzanian health ministry has advised people to immediately report to the nearest health center in case if they show any signs of nausea, weakness, bleeding, diarrhea, or fever. The government has also begun a public awareness campaign across the Kagera region in a bid to educate its residents to help contain the outbreak.
In a statement rereleased late on Tuesday, the World Health Organization said that Tanzania’s national public laboratory confirmed the disease after the death of five of eight people in the northwest Kagera region. Among the dead was a health worker.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said Tanzania’s health authorities’ efforts to establish the cause of the disease is a clear indication of the determination to effectively respond to the outbreak. She said the health body is working with the Tanzanian government to rapidly scale up control measures to halt the spread of the virus and deploy an emergency team to Kagera to carry out further investigations.
Equatorial Guinea is also battling its first-ever outbreak of Marburg which was confirmed in February. Eleven people have lost their lives to the Marburg virus in the outbreak so far.
Marburg belongs to the same virus family which is responsible for Ebola and is transmitted to people from fruit bats. It has a fatality rate of as high as 88 percent.
