It kills up to 90% of patients: what is the Marburg virus which has already caused two deaths in Ghana? – The Independent

Ghana said on Sunday that it had detected two cases of patients suspected of the Marburg virus, as reported by Futura. The first case was a 26-year-old man who presented to hospital on June 26, 2022 and died on June 27. The second case was a 51-year-old man who presented to hospital on June 28 and died the same day, the WHO reveals. This haemorrhagic fever, which resurfaces in Africa after a year without an epidemic, causes dazzling, often fatal symptoms. The Marburg virus was first identified in 1967 in Germany, it originated at that time from experiments carried out on monkeys imported from Uganda in the city of Marburg, hence its name. But the virus is originally carried by fruit bats, but which do not develop the disease. The virus was then transmitted to humans, or to other wild animals which then infected the humans with whom they were in contact. Since then, several epidemics have been reported, with a fatality rate between 24 to 88%, explains the WHO. What are the symptoms ? Ghanaian authorities have said that the 98 contact cases of the two people suspected of being infected are currently under quarantine, and that so far none have developed symptoms of Marburg virus disease. Both suspected cases had symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. Futura explains that it all starts with a high fever and intense headaches. This is followed by abdominal cramps and diarrhea with blood in the stools for which the main risk is dehydration. There is no specific treatment for this disease.