KAMPALA: A sudden outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus has been declared in eastern Uganda, as confirmed by the Ministry of Health. No licensed treatment has been found for the virus, however, an early treatment of symptoms can improve survival rates in the patients. Five cases were reported in Kween district of Uganda, bordering Kenya. Two of which have been confirmed, one is a probability and there are also two suspected cases.
While Marburg and Ebola are caused by two different viruses, they are both members of the Filoviridae family and are clinically similar. Incubation period for Marburg virus is two to 21 days and symptoms include high fever, severe headaches, diarrhoea and vomiting. Haemorrhaging begins between five and seven days after the fever starts. The infection in human comes from prolonged exposure to mines or caves inhabited by Rousettus bat colonies. It is then transmitted from human to human through direct contact with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, including exposure to materials contaminated with infected bodily fluids.
First case of Marburg was reported in Kween in September. The patient was a game hunter and lived near a cave that hosted bats. The 30 year old was admitted to a health centre with a fever, bleeding, vomiting, and diarrhoea. While he eventually died and was given a traditional burial attended by approximately 200 people, his 50 year old sister who had nursed him, fell ill with similar symptoms of fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrheoa and died several weeks later.
The virus was first detected in 1967, after two large outbreaks were detected in Marburg, Germany, and the city of Frankfurt. There has also been an outbreak in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. They were traced back to laboratory work using African green monkeys.
