Two people have died in Ghana after contracting a highly contagious Ebola-like virus, sparking a rush to identify potential contacts and contain the outbreak before it spreads.
It is the first time the country has reported cases of the Marburg virus, a hemorrhagic fever with a fatality rate of up to 88 percent, and only the second outbreak in West Africa†
The patients were identified in the southern Ashanti region of Ghana, but only after they died, raising fears of wider transmission. The virus is transmitted to humans through fruit bats and spreads between humans through direct contact with the body fluids of infected people.
“An outbreak of a filovirus like Marburg is always a serious concernespecially in an environment that has not had outbreaks before, and when cases are diagnosed post-mortem,” said Dr Tom Fletcher, an infectious disease consultant at Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
“While Marburg probably does not broadcast as easily as ebola, delayed diagnosis often means health professionals have been exposed and there are likely to be cases. We also don’t have as many tools on the shelf in terms of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines compared to Ebola,” he told the Telegraph.
The Marburg virus was first identified in 1967 during two epidemics that occurred simultaneously in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany and in Belgrade, Serbia. The outbreak was linked to lab work importing African green monkeys from Uganda.
In the decades since, sporadic epidemics have been identified in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, among others. The largest outbreak to date occurred in Angola in 2005, when 374 contracted the virus and 329 died – an 88 percent death rate.
Last year, in the first outbreak to hit West Africa, Guinea also reported one case. Although 170 contacts were checked, the virus did not spread more widely.
The World Health Organization said the two patients in Ghana had symptoms such as diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting. Samples have been sent to the Institut Pasteur in Senegal, a WHO Collaborating Centre, to confirm the diagnosis.
The UN agency added late on Thursday that it will send an emergency team to Ghana to try to prevent a serious outbreak.
“We are working closely with the country to ramp up detection, follow up contacts and stand ready to control the spread of the virus,” said Dr. Francis Kasolo, WHO Representative in Ghana.
The Marburg virus is a major concern for public health officials concerned about the next pandemic. It can cause serious public health emergencies, but there are currently no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus.
Although the death rate is high, supportive care, including rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids, may improve survival.
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