Rwanda plans to begin vaccine trials for the deadly hemorrhagic fever virus | News in brief

Rwanda plans to begin vaccine trials for the deadly hemorrhagic

The virus is only spread in close contact through blood and secretions. The virus has also caused concern in Germany, when a serious suspicion of the disease appeared in Hamburg.

Rwanda is ready to start vaccine trials for the Marburg virus.

It is a rare but very dangerous virus that causes life-threatening hemorrhagic fever.

According to the World Health Organization WHO, there has been no disease so far treatment or a working vaccine.

A total of 36 cases have been detected in Rwanda in September, and 11 of those infected have died.

Serious suspicion of disease in Germany on Wednesday

On Wednesday, the police in Hamburg isolated the main train station due to the suspicion of the disease.

Two people are currently being examined at Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital, says Tagesschau. The couple flew from Rwanda via Addis Ababa to Frankfurt and continued from there by ICE train to Hamburg. According to current information, the situation did not pose a danger to bystanders.

According to the authorities, one of the persons suspected the disease himself and contacted the doctors, which led to measures at the station. One of them worked in a hospital in Rwanda, which also treats patients with the Marburg virus.

Spreads only through close contact

On average, about half of those infected die, and up to about 88 percent at most.

The Marburg virus is related to the Ebola virus. It is spread through blood and secretions, also from surfaces and, for example, clothes.

Symptoms of Marburg disease include sudden fever, muscle and headache, diarrhea, and internal and external bleeding.

The incubation period of the disease from infection to symptoms varies from two to about 21 days.

The virus is believed to have originated in fruit bats, monkeys and other affected mammals.

Where has the virus been detected?

The Marburg virus has spread mostly in the central parts of Africa and in the equatorial regions. The latest cases have been detected in Rwanda, where authorities are monitoring 410 contacts.

Of the most serious disease clusters is a couple of decades ago: 329 people died from the virus in Angola in 2005 and 128 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998.

In addition to this there have been cases of disease mainly in Uganda and Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Guinea.

The Marburg virus was first identified in 1967, when 31 people became ill and seven died in outbreaks in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia. The source of the infections was traced to green maracas imported from Uganda.

Reuters, AFP

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