Marburg virus disease: Check symptoms, diagnosis, spread, key details

At least nine people have died in Equatorial Guinea as the deadly Marburg virus has emerged for the first time in the west African nation, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed.

This comes after a number of the deadly Marburg virus cases were detected in Ghana in 2022.

What is Marburg virus disease?

Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a highly virulent disease. It is an "often fatal illness", according to details provided by WHO.

Marburg virus generally causes haemorrhagic fever in humans. It has a fatality ratio of up to 88 per cent, according to WHO.

Marburg virus belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. There have been two large outbreaks in Germany's Marburg and Frankfurt and in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1967, as per WHO.

Marburg virus can spread through human-to-human transmission via direct contact, the WHO said.

Marburg virus disease symptoms

Symptoms associated with Marburg virus disease are high fever, severe headache, and malaise. Apart from these, muscle aches, watery diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain.

The WHO has prescribed a diagnosis

1. antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 2. antigen detection tests, 3. serum neutralization tests, 4. reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, 5. virus isolation by cell culture.

FAQs

Q1. Is the Marburg virus still around?
Marburg virus disease has been reported in Equatorial Guinea recently.

Q2. Can you survive Marburg virus?
Marburg virus has fatality rate up to 88 per cent, as per details provided by WHO.