Spanish
The public health agency of the African Union (AU) raised to seven the deaths and twelve the confirmed cases due to the Marburg virus outbreak in Ethiopia this Thursday, with the southern city of Jinka as the main affected area.
"In Ethiopia, twelve cases have been confirmed, seven deaths and a fatality rate of 58.3% of Marburg disease, where the affected area remains Jinka," reported the incident sub-manager of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Yap Boum, in a virtual press conference.
"Two patients have recovered and three are in treatment. The Incident Management System (IMS) has been activated and meetings have been held with the Ministry of Health and partners. A response plan was presented and the ministry's leadership is expected to assign how the different partners will support the efforts already implemented," added Boum.
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As of this Wednesday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health had reported six deaths and five people under medical treatment, as well as the monitoring of 349 people suspected of having had contact with infected individuals.
In South Sudan, which borders Ethiopia, they have activated their emergency operations center preventively and, according to the Africa CDC, have received support in laboratories and training, which will be implemented in the coming days.
"In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the declaration of the end of the Ebola virus disease outbreak is celebrated on December 1st (...). The lessons learned will be applied in Ethiopia, where the Marburg virus disease is currently being faced, and in other countries, underlining that preparedness for outbreaks is fundamental according to the evidence gathered," said the deputy manager of the CDC Africa.
The Marburg virus disease, highly virulent and from the same family as Ebola, manifests abruptly with high fever, headache, malaise, and, in some cases, severe hemorrhaging within seven days, which can lead to death in a short time.
The virus is transmitted from fruit bats to humans and between people through contact with bodily fluids.
Besides Ethiopia, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The disease, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment, was detected in 1967 in the German city of Marburg - the origin of its name - by laboratory technicians who were infected while investigating monkeys brought from Uganda.
