Outbreak of Marburg virus disease in Tanzania put Mozambique on alert

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Outbreak of Marburg virus disease in Tanzania put Mozambique on alert

1:00 CAT | 04 Feb 2025

File photo: DW

The government of Mozambique has activated surveillance measures after the confirmation of cases of Marburg virus disease in Tanzania. The disease causes haemorrhagic fever and belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola.

“Following the declaration of this outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in the Republic of Tanzania,” Director-General of the National Institute of Health (INS), Eduardo Samo Gudo, is quoted by the media today as saying, “the Mozambican Ministry of Health is implementing measures to control the outbreak, including strengthening epidemiological surveillance, strengthening laboratory surveillance in the control of hospital infections and improving the management of haemorrhagic fever cases.”

President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan confirmed on 20 January, in the presence of the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in the country’s north-western Kagera region, which borders Mozambique.

“Laboratory tests carried out at the Kabaile Mobile Laboratory in Kagera, and subsequently confirmed in Dar es Salaam, identified one patient as being infected with Marburg virus. Fortunately, the remaining suspected patients tested negative,” President Hassan told a joint press conference with WHO leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after testing 25 suspected cases.

Risk of disease spreading “low”

Eduardo Samo Gudo indicated that the risks of the disease spreading to countries in the region are “low”. Meanwhile, he promised that health organizations, including the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) were “taking measures to ensure that this outbreak is contained” from Tanzania.

Tanzania borders Mozambique through the provinces of Niassa and Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country.

The WHO is now supporting Tanzanian health authorities to strengthen key outbreak control measures, including disease surveillance, testing, treatment, infection prevention and control, as well as case management and community awareness to prevent further spread of the virus.

“WHO, in collaboration with its partners, is committed to supporting the Government of Tanzania to bring the outbreak under control as quickly as possible and to build a healthier, safer and more just future for all Tanzanians,” Tedros said in the statement released on January 20.

No vaccine or treatment

Tanzania had previously reported a Marburg outbreak – the country’s first – in March, 2023, also in the Kagera region, in which a total of nine cases (eight confirmed and one probable) and six deaths were reported – a case fatality rate of 67%.

In Africa, WHO adds, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.

The Marburg virus causes haemorrhagic fever, which begins suddenly with high fever, severe headaches and severe malaise. The virus is transmitted to people by fruit bats and spreads between humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.

There is no approved treatment or vaccine to effectively treat or prevent the disease, but early treatment and supportive care improve survival, the WHO statement said.

Source: Deutsche Welle