Marburg: The new viral outbreak confirmed by the World Health Organisation 

The world is yet to recover from the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Amidst this, another life-threatening viral disease has been detected by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Named Marburg virus, its outbreak has been confirmed in Equatorial Guinea, a tiny African nation. This disease that is closely related to the dangerous Ebola virus has already claimed many lives and is slowly taking the shape of an epidemic with quite a few suspected patients exhibiting the symptoms. While WHO is on its way to control the outbreak by sending in medical experts and protective gears to the affected country here is all you need to know about this new-found virus. 

First things first. Just like the Ebola virus, the Marburg virus too originates in bats and then spreads to humans via close contact with the infected’s bodily fluids, exposure to contaminated surfaces such as bedsheets. Being deemed as a highly infectious viral haemorrhagic fever, it is carried by the animal-borne RNA virus of the same Filoviridae family as that of the Ebola virus. Depending on the strain of the virus and the nature of diagnosis and treatment, Marburg virus can be 88 percent fatal.  

Experts suggest that people caught the Marburg virus from African fruit bats who have colonies in mines and caves where the workers spend most of their days and are exposed for a long duration.  

In case you were wondering that Marburg virus was unknown so far, that isn’t right. Although this has been its first outbreak, the rare virus was discovered back in 1967 when it had spread in laboratories in Marburg, Germany and Belgrade, Serbia where research on viruses similar to Ebola was going on. Back then, seven people had succumbed, all scientists who were experimenting with monkeys. As you can guess, the name Marburg was given from the place of its origin.  

The symptoms of the disease include, high fever, severe headache, and random chills and malaise. Other less prominent symptoms include, nausea, jaundice, abdominal pain and diarrhoea, muscle aches and cramping.  

What’s scary is that clinical detection of this viral disease is challenging. In fact, it can only be traced on day 5 when a non-itchy rash appears on the cheat, back or stomach area. In extreme cases, on day 8 and 9 profuse blood loss (through vomit and stool, and in rare cases from nose, gums and even genitals) along with severe haemorrhaging and multi-organ failure can be noticed that eventually leads to death.    

So far, there are no authorised vaccines or drugs to treat Marburg virus. However, there is a rehydration treatment (with oral and intravenous fluids) to relieve the symptoms and enhance the chances of survival. Maintaining oxygen levels and using drug therapies such as the ones used in Ebola as well as handling specific symptoms can also come in handy. Some experimental treatments have also been carried out in animals but not in humans.  

Earlier, Marburg was detected in Angola in 2004 and it killed more than 250 people. Last year too, for a brief period, Ghana experienced the Marburg scare when two people were reported to exhibit the symptoms. Other nations that have also met with the viral disease are: South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Yugoslavia, Russia, Netherlands and the USA. Fortunately, most of these cases were contained before they had the chance to spread.