| Initial case: 28 September 2024 [1] | |
 Map of Rwanda | |
| Confirmed cases | 26 [1] |
|---|---|
| Deaths | 6 [1] |
Rwanda is currently experiencing its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD). [2] The outbreak was first reported to the World Health Organization on September 28, 2024. [1] [3] [4] The U.S. embassy in Rwanda has issued an alert on the matter. [5]
On 28 September 2024, the World Health Organization informed of a Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda. Currently there are 26 known cases, 6 of which have been fatal. [1] [6] Cases of the virus have been reported in seven districts of Rwanda. [1] [7]
Contact tracing efforts are being made, and 161 people are being monitored because they came in contact with the infected individuals. [1]
Marburg virus disease is a viral hemorrhagic fever which affects people and primates. The disease can cause serious illness or death. [8]
Transmission of the virus finds that it occurs in humans from fruit bats and spreads through human-to-human contact. [9]
The fatality rate of Marburg virus disease is around 50 percent, but it can vary from 24 to 88 percent depending on several factors. [10]
In contrast to Ebola which has a vaccine, [11] there is no treatment or vaccine for MVD. [8]
The Marburg virus was first discovered in 1967 after outbreaks in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany. These outbreaks had been linked to lab work involving African green monkeys from Uganda. [12]
Some of the more recent outbreaks are listed:
| Year | Country | Virus | Human cases | Human deaths | Case fatality rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 |  Uganda | MARV | 18 | 9 | 50% | [14] [15] |
| 2014 | Uganda | MARV | 1 | 1 | 100% | [16] [17] |
| 2017 | Uganda | MARV | 3 | 3 | 100% | [18] |
| 2021 |  Guinea | MARV | 1 | 1 | 100% | [19] [20] [21] |
| 2022 |  Ghana | MARV | 3 | 2 | 66.66% | [22] |
| 2023 |  Equatorial Guinea | MARV | 40 | 35 | 88% | [23] [24] [25] |
| 2023 |  Tanzania | MARV | 9 | 6 | 66% | [26] [27] |
Marburg virus disease (MVD), formerly Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF) is a viral hemorrhagic fever in human and non-human primates caused by either of the two Marburgviruses: Marburg virus (MARV) and Ravn virus (RAVV). Its clinical symptoms are very similar to those of Ebola virus disease (EVD).
The genus Ebolavirus is a virological taxon included in the family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The members of this genus are called ebolaviruses, and encode their genome in the form of single-stranded negative-sense RNA. The six known virus species are named for the region where each was originally identified: Bundibugyo ebolavirus, Reston ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Taï Forest ebolavirus, Zaire ebolavirus, and Bombali ebolavirus. The last is the most recent species to be named and was isolated from Angolan free-tailed bats in Sierra Leone. Each species of the genus Ebolavirus has one member virus, and four of these cause Ebola virus disease (EVD) in humans, a type of hemorrhagic fever having a very high case fatality rate. The Reston virus has caused EVD in other primates. Zaire ebolavirus has the highest mortality rate of the ebolaviruses and is responsible for the largest number of outbreaks of the six known species of the genus, including the 1976 Zaire outbreak and the outbreak with the most deaths (2014).
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of animal and human illnesses. VHFs may be caused by five distinct families of RNA viruses: the families Filoviridae, Flaviviridae, Rhabdoviridae, and several member families of the Bunyavirales order such as Arenaviridae, and Hantaviridae. All types of VHF are characterized by fever and bleeding disorders and all can progress to high fever, shock and death in many cases. Some of the VHF agents cause relatively mild illnesses, such as the Scandinavian nephropathia epidemica, while others, such as Ebola virus, can cause severe, life-threatening disease.
Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral disease. Symptoms of CCHF may include fever, muscle pains, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding into the skin. Onset of symptoms is less than two weeks following exposure. Complications may include liver failure. Survivors generally recover around two weeks after onset.
The species Bundibugyo ebolavirus is the taxonomic home of one virus, Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), that forms filamentous virions and is closely related to the infamous Ebola virus (EBOV). The virus causes severe disease in humans in the form of viral hemorrhagic fever and is a Select agent, World Health Organization Risk Group 4 Pathogen, National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Category A Priority Pathogen, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Category A Bioterrorism Agent, and is listed as a Biological Agent for Export Control by the Australia Group.
The species Sudan ebolavirus is a virological taxon included in the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The species has a single virus member, Sudan virus (SUDV). The members of the species are called Sudan ebolaviruses. It was discovered in 1977 and causes Ebola clinically indistinguishable from the ebola Zaire strain, but is less transmissible than it. Unlike with ebola Zaire there is no vaccine available.
Marburg virus (MARV) is a hemorrhagic fever virus of the Filoviridae family of viruses and a member of the species Marburg marburgvirus, genus Marburgvirus. It causes Marburg virus disease in primates, a form of viral hemorrhagic fever. The World Health Organization (WHO) rates it as a Risk Group 4 Pathogen. In the United States, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ranks it as a Category A Priority Pathogen and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists it as a Category A Bioterrorism Agent. It is also listed as a biological agent for export control by the Australia Group.
Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after infection. The first symptoms are usually fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches. These are usually followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash and decreased liver and kidney function, at which point some people begin to bleed both internally and externally. It kills between 25% and 90% of those infected – about 50% on average. Death is often due to shock from fluid loss, and typically occurs between six and 16 days after the first symptoms appear. Early treatment of symptoms increases the survival rate considerably compared to late start. An Ebola vaccine was approved by the US FDA in December 2019.
A public health emergency of international concern is a formal declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response", formulated when a situation arises that is "serious, sudden, unusual, or unexpected", which "carries implications for public health beyond the affected state's national border" and "may require immediate international action". Under the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), states have a legal duty to respond promptly to a PHEIC. The declaration is publicized by an IHR Emergency Committee (EC) of international experts, which was developed following the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.
In 2014, an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) occurred. Genome sequencing has shown that this outbreak was not related to the 2014–15 West Africa Ebola virus epidemic, but was of the same EBOV species. It began in August 2014 and was declared over in November of that year, after 42 days without any new cases. This is the 7th outbreak there, three of which occurred during the period of Zaire.
On 11 May 2017, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having one Ebola-related death.
The 2017 Uganda Marburg virus outbreak was confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 20 October 2017 after there had been an initial fatality due to the virus.
The Kivu Ebola epidemic was an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) mainly in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and in other parts of Central Africa, from 2018 to 2020. Between 1 August 2018 and 25 June 2020 it resulted in 3,470 reported cases. The Kivu outbreak also affected Ituri Province, whose first case was confirmed on 13 August 2018. In November 2018, the outbreak became the biggest Ebola outbreak in the DRC's history, and had become the second-largest Ebola outbreak in recorded history worldwide, behind only the 2013–2016 Western Africa epidemic. In June 2019, the virus reached Uganda, having infected a 5-year-old Congolese boy who entered Uganda with his family, but was contained.
In August–November 1976, an outbreak of Ebola virus disease occurred in Zaire. The first recorded case was from Yambuku, a small village in Mongala District, 1,098 kilometres (682 mi) northeast of the capital city of Kinshasa.
The outbreak of Marburg virus disease in Gueckedou district, Guinea started in July 2021, and ended in September. A single individual got sick and died of the virus, with no other known cases.
On 7 February 2021, the Congolese health ministry announced that a new case of Ebola near Butembo, North Kivu had been detected the previous day. The case was a 42-year-old woman who had symptoms of Ebola in Biena on 1 February 2021. A few days after, she died in a hospital in Butembo. The WHO said that more than 70 people who had contact with the woman had been tracked.
The 2022–2023 Uganda Ebola outbreak was an outbreak of the Sudan ebolavirus, which causes Ebola, from 20 September 2022 until 10 January 2023 in the Western and Central Regions of Uganda. Over 160 people were infected, including 77 people who died. It was Uganda's fifth outbreak with Sudan ebolavirus. The Ugandan Ministry of Health declared the outbreak on 20 September 2022. As of 25 October 2022, there were confirmed cases in the Mubende, Kyegegwa, Kassanda, Kagadi, Bunyanga, Kampala and Wakiso districts. As of 24 October 2022, there were a total of 90 confirmed or probable cases and 44 deaths. On 12 October, the first recorded death in the capital of Kampala occurred; 12 days later on 24 October, there had been a total of 14 infections in the capital in the last two days. On 11 January 2023 after 42 days without new cases the outbreak was declared over.
A disease outbreak was first reported in Equatorial Guinea on 7 February 2023 and, on 13 February 2023, it was identified as being Marburg virus disease. It was the first time the disease was detected in the country. As of 4 April 2023, there were 14 confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases, including ten confirmed deaths from the disease in Equatorial Guinea. On 8 June 2023, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak over. In total, 17 laboratory-confirmed cases and 12 deaths were recorded. All the 23 probable cases reportedly died. Four patients recovered from the virus and have been enrolled in a survivors programme to receive psychosocial and other post-recovery support.
A Marburg virus disease outbreak in Tanzania was first reported on 21 March 2023 by the Ministry of Health of Tanzania. This is the first time that Tanzania has reported an outbreak of the disease. On 2 June 2023, Tanzania declared the outbreak over.
| Ebolavirus |
| ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marburgvirus | |||||||||||||||
| Cuevavirus |
| ||||||||||||||
| Dianlovirus |
| ||||||||||||||
| Striavirus |
| ||||||||||||||
| Thamnovirus |
| ||||||||||||||
