WHO claims Tanzania may be experiencing a Marburg epidemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) used its secure web-based platform, the Event Information Site (EIS), to notify its member states on January 13 about a suspected outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) in Tanzania’s Kagera region, approximately three weeks after Rwanda declared the outbreak to be over.

The Event Information Site is meant to promptly notify member states about acute and quickly evolving public health threats and events that may have global ramifications in accordance with the International Health Regulations. Reliable in-country reports of probable MVD cases in Tanzania’s Kagera area were sent to WHO on January 10.

According to reports, six persons were impacted, five of them had passed away. According to a WHO statement, the patients shared symptoms such as headache, high fever, back pain, diarrhea, hematemesis (bloody vomiting), malaise (weakness in the body), and, later in the course of the illness, external hemorrhage (bleeding from orifices).

According to the statement, as of January 11, nine suspected cases—including eight fatalities—had been recorded in two districts, Biharamulo and Muleba, with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 89%.

The National Public Health Laboratory has gathered and examined samples from two patients. The results are not yet officially confirmed. In both districts, contacts—including medical personnel—have reportedly been located and are being followed up with.

The first MVD epidemic occurred in March 2023 in the Kagera region’s Bukoba district, and fruit bats are still endemic zoonotic reservoirs in the region. Nine infections and six fatalities were reported during the roughly two-month-long epidemic in March 2023.

Laboratory samples from recent cases have been forwarded to the National Public Health Laboratory for confirmation, surveillance efforts have been stepped up with contact tracing underway, and national rapid response teams have been mobilized to support outbreak investigation and response. According to reports, treatment facilities have been built, and there is a mobile laboratory in the Kagera district.

The WHO states that a number of alarming circumstances have led to the risk of this suspected MVD epidemic being “assessed as high at the national level.”

As previously mentioned, there have been at least nine suspected cases in the suspected epidemic thus far, including eight fatalities, yielding a high case fatality ratio of 89%. Among the probable patients impacted are healthcare personnel, underscoring the possibility of nosocomial spread. At this time, the outbreak’s origin is unknown.

Geographic distribution is suggested by the reporting of probable MVD cases from two districts. Ongoing contact tracing combined with delayed case isolation and discovery suggests incomplete knowledge of the present outbreak. It is anticipated that more cases will be found.

The UN health agency states that the Kagera region’s vital location as a transit hub, with substantial cross-border population mobility to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, makes it a high-risk zone.

The WHO reports that several of the suspected cases are in regions close to international borders, underscoring the possibility of the disease spreading to nearby nations. It is difficult to spread MVD. Usually, it involves coming into touch with bodily fluids from a sick patient who is exhibiting symptoms or with surfaces that have been contaminated by these fluids. It is impossible to rule out the possibility that someone who has been exposed to the virus is traveling.

Global danger is deemed to be minimal.

“The global risk is currently assessed as low,” the WHO statement continues. Although there are worries about possible threats, there is yet no documented worldwide spread. The Kagera region is well-connected by transportation networks and has an airport that links to Dar es Salaam for further air travel outside Tanzania, despite being distant from Tanzania’s capital and major international airports.

“This emphasizes the necessity of close cooperation with neighboring nations to strengthen readiness capacities, as well as increased surveillance and case management capabilities at pertinent points of entry and borders.”