Ghana, West Africa, has confirmed the country’s first two cases of the deadly Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola. Both patients died recently at the same hospital in the Ashanti region in the south of the country.
The presence of the virus was verified in both samples earlier this month at a laboratory in Senegal.
The first death was a 26-year-old man who was admitted to the hospital on June 26, 2022 and died the next day. The second case was a 51-year-old man who was admitted to hospital on June 28 and died on the same day.
Health officials in the African country say 98 people are in quarantine for suspected contact with the infected.
There is still no treatment for Marburg, but doctors say drinking lots of water and treating specific symptoms improves a patient’s chances of survival.
Mortality rates have ranged from 24% to 88% in previous outbreaks, depending on the virus strain and case management. There are vaccines being tested, still in phase 1 of research.
The virus is transmitted to people by bats and spreads between humans through bodily fluids. It is a serious illness, often fatal, with symptoms such as headache, fever, muscle aches, vomiting of blood, and bleeding.
Authorities are warning people to stay away from caves where bats are found and to cook all meat products thoroughly before consuming them.
The WHO (World Health Organization) is supporting the Ministry of Health of Ghana in the Ashanti region. A team of experts from the international body will be sent in the coming days to work on coordination, risk assessment and infection prevention measures.
In Africa, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, says the WHO. The first outbreak of the virus was detected in the city of Marburg, Germany in 1967. Of the 32 people infected in the former West Germany and Yugoslavia, seven died.
The virus killed more than 200 people in Angola in 2005, the deadliest outbreak on record, according to the WHO.
– Text originally published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62204711
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