Urgent warning of Ebola-like Marburg virus outbreak – the 13 signs you need to know

EQUATORIAL Guinea has confirmed up to nine new cases of “highly virulent” Marburg virusas experts fear international spread.

Marburg virus is an infectious disease with a mortality rate of 90 percent and epidemic potential according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

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It currently has no known vaccine or treatment.

The new diagnoses bring the country’s total number of confirmed cases to 14, and of those, 10 have died since the outbreak was declared official health in mid-February Data suggests.

There are also eight other suspected cases in the country. And 20 probable cases all died, WHO said in a opinion.

The outbreak has spread from rural areas to the African nation’s main port of Bata, raising the risk of international transmission.

It comes after the WHO said there was a “risk of international spread”. [or Marburg] can not be excluded”.

At least four cases have now been identified in the city, which has around 200,000 residents, an international airport and links to several neighboring countries.

Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania are facing their first known outbreaks of the virus, a viral fever with uncontrolled bleeding very similar to its cousin Ebola.

As of March 22, Tanzania had eight confirmed cases, including five deaths.

About 34 people in Africa have reportedly died in Marburg since February 2023.

Last week, a mysterious “nosebleed” disease claimed the lives of three people in Burundi, West Africa.

The symptoms seem to point to a type of viral hemorrhagic fever that damages the walls of tiny blood vessels, causing them to leak, like Marburg and Ebola.

However, the Burundian Ministry of Health has already ruled out both diseases.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have Travelers crowded to both countries to avoid contact with sick people and to watch for symptoms three weeks after leaving the area.

Travelers to Equatorial Guinea should take increased precautions and avoid unnecessary travel to provinces where the outbreak is ongoing, the agency said.

Other countries including Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait have urged travelers to avoid visiting the two countries altogether.

While Ho Chi Minh City has implemented in Vietnam mandatory screening for those arriving from African countries.

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Marburg is transmitted to humans from fruit bats and can spread between humans through direct contact with body fluids, surfaces and materials, the WHO said.

There is no treatment or vaccination for Marburg.

In 2014-16, the largest Ebola outbreak since 1970 began in Guinea.

Cases have been recorded in Nigeria, the US, the UK, Spain and Italy.

There were 28,616 suspected, probable and confirmed cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and 11,310 deaths.

Since its discovery in 1967 in Marburg, Germany, there have been a dozen major Marburg eruptions.

The cases have mainly occurred in southern and eastern Africa, including Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, the WHO said.