Nine people have died from the Marburg virus, a hemorrhagic fever almost as deadly as Ebolain eastern Equatorial Guinea, but it is known that there are “16 suspected cases of people presenting symptoms such as fever, tiredness, diarrhea and vomiting blood.”
Three people who had “mild symptoms” of the disease were isolated in a hospital in the area, sparsely populated and rural, bordering Gabon and Cameroon, Minister Mitoha Ondo’o Ayekaba said at a press conference.
The area where the cases were reported, populated by equatorial forest, is located in the eastern part of the country’s mainland, which also includes two main islands.
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Due to all of the above, Equatorial Guinea declared a health alert on Monday in the province of Kie-Ntem and in the district of Mongomo. The “launch of the contingency plan to deal with the epidemic” was also announced, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).
This means that 4,325 people are in quarantine.
How is this virus transmitted?
Marburg virus disease is transmitted to humans by bats and spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people, or surfaces and materials, says the WHO.
Furthermore, mortality rates are said to have ranged from 24% to 88% in past epidemics, depending on the viral strain and case management.
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This is the first epidemic of its kind in that small central African country, as waves of sporadic cases have been reported in West Africa, southern Africa, Angola, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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LAST MINUTE writing
*With information from AFP
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