First cases of virulent Marburg virus detected in Ghana

98 people identified as contact cases are currently in quarantine. A first in the country. Two cases of Marburg virus disease, a hemorrhagic fever almost as deadly as Ebola, have been recorded in Ghana, health authorities said on Sunday. On July 8, blood samples from two people taken in the Ashanti region suggested Marburg virus and the samples were sent to the Pasteur Institute in Dakar (IDP) for confirmation, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said. “Additional tests carried out at the IDP, Senegal, corroborated the results,” Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, director-general of the GHS, announced in a statement on Sunday. Marburg’s case has not yet been detected among them. The health authorities say they are doing everything to “protect the health of the population”, calling for cooperation “from everyone” so that the virus is “contained from man effective”. Marburg virus disease is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, or with surfaces and materials, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO before announced in September 2021 the end of the first episode of the Marburg virus in West Africa, 42 days after the identification of a single case in Guinea. outbreaks and sporadic cases had previously been reported elsewhere in Africa, including South Africa, Angola, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The disease begins suddenly, with high fever, headache intense and possible discomfort. Case fatality rates have ranged from 24% to 88% in previous outbreaks, depending on viral strain and case management, according to the WHO. Although there are no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments to treat the virus, oral or intravenous rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms improve survival rates.