Tanzanian Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu shared the information that no new cases were detected in the last 42 days in the Marburg virus epidemic that broke out in the Bukoba region.
Announcing the end of the epidemic, Mwalimu said, “Today is a happy day. I would like to announce that Marburg is over in Tanzania.” said.
Marburg virus was detected for the first time in Tanzania on March 21, and 6 people died in the epidemic.
Marburg virus
The Marburg virus was first detected in a laboratory in Marburg, Germany, in 1967.
The Marburg virus, which is transmitted through fruit bats, spreads among humans through bodily fluids or contact of infected persons. Symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, weakness, and vomiting occur suddenly in infected individuals, and severe hemorrhagic symptoms develop in many patients within 7 days.
The mortality rate of Marburg virus, which does not have a vaccine or a special treatment, varies between 23 percent and 90 percent.
In the Marburg virus outbreak in Angola in 2005, 90 percent of the 252 people infected with the virus died.