Two suspected cases of Marburg virus have been detected in Ghana: what it is, what are the symptoms and how it is transmitted
By: VirgilioNotizie | Posted on:
If Omicron 5 was not enough, which caused infections to shoot up again (also in Italy), another virus is looming on the horizon, feeding new fears: it is the virus in Marburg. Ghana has confirmed two suspected positive cases for this virus, described as “highly lethal“.
What is the Marburg virus, its symptoms and how it is transmitted
Marburg, as explained by the World Health Organization, consists of one highly infectious viral haemorrhagic feverfrom the same family as the better known virus disease Ebola.
The two patients who, in the southern region of Ashanti, Ghana, tested positive in Marburg on the preliminary analysis of the samples, were both died. They weren’t related to each other. They showed symptoms such as diarrhea, fever, nausea e He retched.
The WHO itself recalls that Marburg is transmitted to humans by the so-called “fruit bats” and spreads among people through direct contact with the body fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. The disease suddenly begins with high fever, bad headache e malaise. Many patients develop severe bleeding signs within 7 days. THE mortality rates of cases range from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks, depending on the virus strain and case management.
Marburg virus: the situation in Ghana
Should they be confirmed, the cases in Ghana would represent the second time that the Marburg virus has been detected in West Africa. Guinea confirmed a single case in an outbreak that was declared closed on September 16, 2021, which is 5 weeks after the initial case was detected.
Francis Kasolo, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Ghana, said: “Health authorities are on the ground to investigate the situation and prepare for a possible response to the outbreak. We are working closely with the country to increase detection, track contacts and be ready to control the spread of the virus ”.
The two suspected cases of Marburg virus have emerged in Ghana.
Marburg virus: the alarm from Carlo Federico Perno
Carlo Federico Pernoclinical virologist and head of Microbiology and Immunology Diagnostics at the Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital in Rome, commented on the recent suspected cases of Marburg virus that emerged in Ghana in an interview granted to ‘Il Messaggero’.
Perno explained: “These viruses hurt because they are highly lethal viruses for people who are undernourished or with other pathologies. Fortunately they are normally self-limiting virusesfor a series of virological reasons they tend to limit themselves, but they do not disappear, they disappear from our sight but continue to be there, and will return ”.
The expert then added: “What happens on another continent cannot fail to concern us. Omicron 5 is proof of this, it is spreading almost synchronously all over the world due to the massive movements of millions of people. These things will happen more and more ”.
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