West Africa’s first-ever case of Marburg virus disease confirmed in Guinea

A laboratory in Guinea confirms the case after a patient sought medical attention and died in the border town of Gueckedou.

By Edward Era Barbacena

The highly contagious Marburg virus has been detected in a deceased patient in Guinea. 155 contact persons are now under surveillance, the neighboring states are on alert.

In West Africa, a case of the highly contagious and very dangerous Marburg virus has been detected for the first time. The World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said Monday that the case had been discovered in Guinea. The Marburg virus has the potential to "spread widely," said Moeti. It must therefore be stopped quickly.

According to the WHO, the Marburg virus is transmitted to humans by fruit bats. Human-to-human transmission occurs, among other things, through direct contact with the body fluids of an infected person, but also via surfaces. Symptoms of Marburg fever include a high, hemorrhagic fever and severe headache. According to the WHO, mortality is up to 88 percent. Approved vaccines against the Marburg virus do not yet exist.

Same family of pathogens as Ebola virus

Guinea had declared an Ebola outbreak over just two months ago. The Marburg virus comes from the same pathogen family as the Ebola virus. According to the WHO, the risk of a Marburg virus epidemic in the country and region is "high", but "low" worldwide.

According to Moeti, the WHO is working with the national health authorities on suitable measures to contain the virus. In doing so, she builds on "Guinea's experience and expertise in dealing with Ebola, which is transmitted in a similar way," said Moeti. The Guinean government confirmed the case. Moeti praised the "vigilance and quick investigations" of the health authorities.

According to the WHO, the virus was detected in a patient who died on August 2 in a village in the Guéckédou prefecture in southern Guinea. The most recent Ebola virus outbreak also occurred in this prefecture. The region borders Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The man had developed symptoms on July 25, according to the WHO, and had been treated at a local hospital. He suffered from a fever, headache, exhaustion, stomach pain and bleeding gums. After his symptoms worsened, a medical team was dispatched to the clinic. The man died a good week after the first symptoms appeared. Samples taken after his death initially tested negative for Ebola, but then tested positive for the Marburg virus.

A team of ten WHO experts is already on site to support the national health authorities with emergency measures and to carry out further tests in the population.

155 contact persons are observed

According to the WHO, three relatives of the deceased and a member of the medical staff have been identified as high-risk cases and their health is being monitored. In addition, other contacts of the man would be identified, and it would be investigated where the man could have been infected.

The government of Guinea said a total of 155 contacts were being monitored on a daily basis. Since the start of the investigations on August 4, there have been no more suspected cases of the Marburg virus.

According to the WHO, cross-border surveillance will also be intensified so that possible further cases can be identified quickly. The neighboring states of Guinea have been put on alert.

Last year there was an Ebola outbreak in Guinea, which the WHO declared over in mid-June. Twelve people died in Guinea in connection with the Ebola outbreak. Guinea has a fragile health system that is additionally burdened by disease outbreaks and the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the Marburg fever cases have so far been recorded in Uganda . There were major outbreaks in Angola in 2005 and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1998 to 2000.

The Marburg virus bears his name because it was first detected in 1967 in laboratory workers in Marburg.