Right now there is an outbreak of the deadly margburg virus in Rwanda. Since the beginning of September, the death toll and the number of infections have slowly increased. So far, 11 have died and a further 36 cases have been registered. Fear of infection in Europe On Wednesday, the German newspaper Bild reported that there was a suspected case of infection in Hamburg. A medical student and his girlfriend, who had recently returned from Rwanda, were tested for the virus because the medical student had developed flu-like symptoms. This led to a major shutdown and action at the central station in Hamburg. Fortunately, the tests so far show that the student is not infected. He will nevertheless be monitored and isolated in a hospital in Hamburg for three weeks, before he will be isolated at home. The boyfriend is to be isolated and monitored throughout the weekend. Since the incubation period for the virus is two to 21 days, German health officials are doing everything they can to make sure they are not mistaken. After the death toll has risen in Rwanda in recent days, Sweden is now raising the alert. – The government plans to make a decision to classify marburg as a disease threatening society tomorrow at a government meeting, says Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed to Aftonbladet. At the same time, Forssmed says that the risk of the disease spreading to Sweden is still low. From bats to humans It is basically bats in parts of Africa that can have the virus in them, without themselves getting sick. – The disease is a so-called zoonosis, i.e. a disease that spreads from animals to humans, and is transmitted to humans at irregular intervals. The virus can also be transmitted from person to person, but this requires direct contact with the body fluids of a sick person, explains senior doctor Marte Petrikke Grenersen from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) to news. The latter may be exactly what has happened in Rwanda. An Egyptian fruit bat hangs upside down in its cage. The picture is from when Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first outbreak of the Marburg virus in 2003. The virus spreads from bats to humans. Photo: AP Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Sabin Nsanzimana writes on X that most of the people who are now affected are health workers who worked in an intensive care unit. Nsanzimana adds that work is being done to trace people who have been in contact with the infected. So far they are monitoring 410 people. High mortality The symptoms of the Marburg virus are very similar, almost identical, to the Ebola virus. – First you get a fever, body aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. As you get sicker, bleeding can occur from the skin, body openings and in organs, and you can have organ failure, says senior doctor Grenersen. Marte Petrikke Grenersen is a senior physician and specialist in internal medicine and infectious diseases at FHI. Photo: private There is currently no concrete treatment apart from fluids, fever-reducing medicines and some support for those in the intensive care unit when their organs fail. Senior doctor Marte Petrikke Grenersen believes that the reasons why so many people die from the virus in African countries may be poor access to health care and underdiagnosis. Today, 88 percent of those infected with the Marburg virus die. New hope Since the virus was first discovered in 1967, the disease has been diagnosed in approximately 600 people. Infection was registered in Rwanda’s neighboring country Tanzania last year and in Uganda in 2017. Now the health authorities in Rwanda have good news. They are ready to test a vaccine and treatment against the virus on people. This will happen within a short time, Assistant Health Minister Yvan Butera told the Reuters news agency. The development of a vaccine is demanding, expensive and takes time, but is a high priority at the World Health Organization WHO. – If the vaccine is both effective and is made available during an outbreak, there is reason for optimism, says senior physician Marte Petrikke Grenersen from FHI to news. Traditional burial practices have had to be changed to ensure that mourners are not infected by a dead person with Marburg virus. Here from an outbreak in 2005 in Angola. Photo: CHRISTOPHER BLACK / AFP She also points out that Rwanda has also taken many measures to stop the spread of infection. This applies to everything from having created a telephone number that people who suspect they are infected can call for a quick examination, information to the population and health personnel to recommendations regarding funerals. Despite the outbreak in Rwanda, FHI will not advise against traveling there, but they have some advice for you who are going on a trip: Ensure good hand hygiene. Avoid contact with sick and dead people and animals. Do not visit caves and other typical haunts for bats. Do not eat so-called “bushmeat”, i.e. meat from wild animals. Are you interested in other things from the world? Listen to Urix’s podcasts: Published 08.10.2024, at 22.04
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New vaccine creates hope of stopping the deadly Marburg virus – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
