Rwanda’s Marburg outbreak is ‘controlled,’ Africa CDC says

Rwanda’s Marburg virus outbreak is “controlled,” according to Africa’s top public health chief, who said he was expecting to see the country come “out of this outbreak very soon”.

The Ebola-like haemorrhagic fever has killed 13 people since the outbreak was first declared in the East African country on September 27.

Jean Kaseya of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the risk of Marburg spreading out of Rwanda is almost zero and praised the country for what he said was a strong response to the outbreak by a range of government officials.

“The mechanism they put in place even to follow the contacts, no contact can fly out of Rwanda,” he said.

“And this is amazing because they are monitoring these contacts on (a) daily basis”.

While there is no authorised vaccine or treatment for Marburg, Rwanda received 700 doses of a vaccine under trial from the United States-based Sabin Vaccine Institute over the weekend for health workers and emergency responders as well as individuals who have been in contact with confirmed cases.

Travel screenings

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday updated its travel advisory for Rwanda, requiring screening of travelers who have recently been to Rwanda.

The updated guidelines urge people to reconsider non-essential travel to Rwanda.

Kaseya said that decision was not respectful as it was made without consulting with the Africa CDC or Rwanda.

Rwanda should not “be punished” with advisories prohibiting travel because it is “being transparent” in its reporting of the outbreak, he said.

According to the latest update from Rwanda’s health ministry, there are 58 confirmed cases of Marburg virus with 15 people recovering from it. Around 346 vaccine doses have been administered, it said.

The Marburg virus, like Ebola, is believed to originate in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets.

Without treatment, it can be fatal in up to 88 per cent of people who fall ill with the disease. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhoea, vomiting and, in some cases, death through extreme blood loss.

Two people were isolated in Germany last week after they travelled from Rwanda but later tested negative for the virus.

One person was a medical student who had worked in a hospital and been in contact with a Marburg patient while wearing protective equipment.