Ghana is hit by the country’s first outbreak of the highly contagious Marburg virus, which is similar to Ebola. A 26-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman from the Ashanti region, in southern Ghana, have died. This was confirmed by the Ghanaian authorities at the weekend after a laboratory linked to the World Health Organization (WHO) repeated the samples and found the same findings. A health worker takes out the rubbish outside a clinic that treated people infected with the Marburg virus in Angola back in 2005. Photo: MIKE HUTCHINGS / REUTERS The two dead are not related. They died on the same day and one day after they were admitted to hospital. More than 90 close contacts, including health workers, have been quarantined. – Of all scary virus infections, Ebola and Marburg virus are in the top division. We have received a vaccine against Ebola that works, but not against Marburg virus, says Anne Spurkland, professor and immunologist at the University of Oslo. There is also no cure. The Marburg virus is a bleeding virus that gives the patient fever and bleeding, says professor and immunologist Anne Spurkland at the University of Oslo. Photo: Truls Antonsen / news Fruit bats The virus infects humans from fruit bats. It was discovered in 1967 during eruptions in the cities of Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany. The source of infection was monkeys, which were used in laboratory experiments and had been transported to the country from Uganda. Between people, the disease is spread through bodily fluids. – There is a large and complex team working on the ground to track down the source so that it can be buried, says Health Director Patrick Kumah-Aboagye in Ghana to the BBC. The WHO has praised the authorities for their handling of the outbreak. – Marburg can easily get out of control without immediate and determined action, said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa Director. WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti commends Ghana for the swift handling of the Marburg outbreak. In the last ten years, there has been a 63 percent increase in diseases spread from animals to humans in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Photo: Moses Sawasawa / AP The largest Marburg virus outbreak killed 300 people in Angola in 2005. Ebola, on the other hand, was responsible for 11,300 deaths in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. – It is too early to say anything about the extent. We have to try to keep some ice in our stomachs here, says Professor Anne Spurkland and continues: – It doesn’t scare me for now. Previous outbreaks of Marburg virus have been few and small. Professor Tor Gjøen at the University of Oslo agrees. – I think a good deal was learned from the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. I should think they manage to suffocate it a little earlier this time, says Gjøen at the Institute of Pharmacy. The Marburg virus is transmitted through bodily fluids and proper treatment of the dead is important to avoid infection. Staff from the World Health Organization work here during the outbreak in Angola in 2005. Photo: CHRISTOPHER BLACK / AFP Deadly bleeding viruses Both Marburg and Ebola are so-called bleeding viruses. This means that the patient suddenly develops a high fever, in addition to headache, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, according to the WHO. Bleeding then occurs. The people die from massive blood loss and shock, just eight to nine days into the disease. While Marburg virus has a mortality rate of up to 88 per cent, Ebola variants are between 25 and 90 per cent. – The virus spreads through bodily fluids. When the Ebola epidemic was a fact, it spread quickly because of the traditional handling of the dead in West Africa. The dead are washed and dressed by relatives, says Anne Spurkland. – When someone dies of hemorrhagic fever, there will also be viruses outside the body. Maruburg virus outbreaks have been sporadic. The largest outbreak occurred in 2005 when 300 died in Angola. REUTERS Spurkland compares bleeding viruses with what can happen with infectious meningitis. Then the body’s bleeding control can also be so disturbed by the infection that it is life-threatening. Signs of skin bleeding when you are ill and have a fever are serious and must be followed up immediately. The map from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows where the fruit bat is widespread in the world (small area) and where marburg virus has been reported after the first case in 1967. Massive inflammation throughout the body Both viruses initiate an inflammation in the bloodstream, Sprukland explains. – Since blood gets everywhere in the body, you get a massive inflammatory process throughout the body. Then you get uncontrolled blood clots and bleeding, says Spurkland, who has written the blog post “Terroralarm” about how the Ebola virus works. There are still small damages in the blood vessels that occur spontaneously when we use the body. – We depend on having platelets that circulate around and seal up small injuries and leaks. If you don’t have enough platelets in your blood, the skin will bleed, she says. SOURCE OF INFECTION: Professor and specialist in mammals, Blaise Kadjo at Felix Houphouet-Boigny University shows a bat in the laboratory of zoology and animal biology at the University of Abidjan on February 4, 2021. Photo: Sia Kambou / AFP The Ebola virus, and also the Marburg virus, attack so-called eating cells, which are part of the body’s immune system, explains Spurkland. When the eating cells become infected, they will start to secrete substances, which cause severe inflammation and which also activate the coagulation system in the blood. – This will quickly lead to blood clots in some places and bleeding in other places, because all the platelets are quickly used up, says the professor. The reason why the Marburg and Ebola viruses are so dangerous is because they can reproduce quite unhindered inside the food cells, without the rest of the immune system being told what is happening until it is far too late. – The phagocytes are the ones that direct the entire immune system, and the phagocytes secrete signaling substances that cause inflammation, she says. The Marburg virus has claimed two lives in Ghana. Around 100 people who have been in close contact with the infected are in quarantine. REUTERS Sporadic outbreaks In the last ten years, there has been a 63 percent increase in diseases spread from animals to humans in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Marburg and Ebola are among these, in addition to dengue fever, which is spread by mosquitoes. Monkeypox is also among the zoonotic diseases. Scientists have repeatedly sounded the alarm about the increased risk of zoonotic diseases, especially since the world’s population is getting closer to wild animals through deforestation and habitation. As for the Marburg virus, there have previously been small and sporadic outbreaks in Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. The virus has been discovered once before in West Africa. One person had the virus confirmed in the country of Guinea last year. It came just two months after the WHO declared the end of Guinea’s second Ebola outbreak, which claimed twelve lives. The incubation period, i.e. the time it takes from the moment of infection to the onset of the disease, is two to 21 days.
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Highly contagious Marburg virus kills two people in Ghana – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
