After Ebola, the haemorrhagic fever nightmare returns to scare Africa. The announcement of the World Health Organization (WHO) is yesterday evening: the Minister of Health of Guinea informed the UN agency on 6 August of the presence on its territory of the first confirmed case of Marburg virus disease (MVD) , in the prefecture of Guéckédou, Nzérékoré region, southwestern Guinea. This is a man who had onset of symptoms on July 25th. On August 1, he was in a small health facility near his village, which is located in an area bordering both Sierra Leone and Liberia. This, explains WHO, “is the first known case of Marburg virus disease in Guinea and West Africa”.
The man had symptoms of fever, headache, fatigue, abdominal pain, and gum bleeding. A rapid diagnostic test for malaria was performed which came back negative. The patient received supportive care with rehydration, injecting antibiotics, and treatment to manage symptoms. But he did not make it: on 2 August he died in his community and the local public health facility issued an alert to the health department of the prefecture of Guéckédou. A team of experts from WHO and national institutions took the field.
From the sample taken post mortem and sent to the specialized laboratory in the area on 3 August, the verdict of positivity for Marburg virus disease and negative result for Ebola arrived. Results confirmed on 5 August by the National Reference Laboratory in Conakry and on 9 August by the Institut Pasteur Dakar in Senegal.
We now need “a coordinated effort to prevent transmission and protect communities – warned WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, with a message on Twitter – WHO is on the ground with local partners and will continue to provide all the support needed “.
The Ministry of Health together with the WHO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other entities from the Red Crice to the International Organization for Migration, have initiated measures to control the epidemic and prevent a further dissemination.
Contact tracing is ongoing, along with active case finding in health care facilities and at the community level. Three family members and a health care worker have been identified as high-risk close contacts and their health is being monitored.
Guinea had recently declared an Ebola virus outbreak over on June 19, 2021. The network of health workers that had been deployed against Ebola is now in place to support response activities to this new health threat.
From the discovery of the first Marburg case to date, a total of 146 contacts have been identified and the active search for suspected cases continues in the community and health facilities. Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent and epidemic-prone disease associated with high mortality rates. In the early course of the disease, it is difficult to distinguish from other tropical febrile diseases, due to the similarities in clinical symptoms. It is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids or tissues of infected people or wild animals (e.g. monkeys and fruit bats). Currently, there is no specific therapy or approved drug, but supportive care.