Tanzanian Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu stated that Marburg virus was detected in samples taken from the bodies of 5 people who were first declared dead from a mysterious disease. Mwalimu stated that the treatment of 3 people in the hospital continues and that 161 people in contact are followed.
Mwalimu stated that there is no need to panic or stop economic activities in the country, and that they are trying to control the disease.
MARBURG VIRUS
The Marburg virus was first detected in a laboratory in Marburg, Germany, in 1967.
The Marburg virus, which is transmitted through fruit bats, spreads among humans through bodily fluids or contact of infected persons. Symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, weakness, and vomiting occur suddenly in infected individuals, and severe hemorrhagic symptoms develop in many patients within 7 days.
The mortality rate of Marburg virus, which does not have a vaccine or a special treatment, varies between 23 percent and 90 percent.
In the Marburg virus outbreak in Angola in 2005, 90 percent of the 252 people infected with the virus died. (AA)