Two cases of Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease like Ebola, have been detected in Ghana. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Marburg virus case was first detected in a 26-year-old male who got admitted to a hospital on June 26 and died a day later. The second Marburg virus case was a 51-year-old male who checked into a hospital but died later.
The announcement comes after two unrelated patients from the southern Ashanti region of Ghana tested positive for the Marburg virus. The patients had shown symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea, and vomiting, the WHO said.
WHAT IS MARBURG VIRUS?
According to the WHO, the Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent Eloba-like disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88 per cent. It is in the same family as the virus that causes the Ebola virus disease, the WHO says. Both Ebola and Marburg diseases are rare and have the capacity to cause outbreaks with high fatality rates.
Illness begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache, and malaise, states the WHO.
HOW MARBURG VIRUS IS TRANSMITTED?
The Marburg virus is transmitted to humans from fruit bats. The Marburg virus can spread from human to human. It can transmit through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people or surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids.
People remain infectious as long as their blood contains the virus.
