Ghana confirms first case of deadly Marburg virus, killing two people
The first two cases of the deadly Marburg virus disease have been identified in Ghana, the WHO announced on Sunday.
The two patients, who were not related, were residents of the southern Ashanti area of Ghana and both tested positive for the virus.
More than 90 contacts of the patients are being watched for signs of the disease, which include diarrhoea, fever, nausea, and vomiting, according to the World Health Organization.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the fatality rate associated with Marburg, a highly contagious viral hemorrhagic fever, can reach as high as 88%. High fever, severe headache, and malaise are described as the “Illness begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache, and malaise,”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus is passed from person to person by contact with infected bodily fluids or with surfaces and objects that have been contaminated with these fluids.
Measures to contain the outbreak have been implemented, and the global health organisation has promised to send further help to Ghana. A WHO report concurs, saying, “without immediate and decisive action, Marburg can easily get out of hand.”
At this time, neither a vaccine nor an antiviral treatment for the Marburg virus is available. However, oral or intravenous rehydration and treatment of certain symptoms can increase a patient’s likelihood of life, as stated by WHO.
The Ghana Health Service has recommended that the general public stay away from mines and caves where fruit bats live and that they prepare all meat well before eating it. The health department has stated that fruit bats are the virus’s natural host.
Following its detection in Guinea last year, this year’s epidemic in Ghana is only the second in West Africa. The patient who contracted the virus in Guinea also died. Health officials in Guinea have reported no new verified cases.
Uganda, Kenya, Angola, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have all seen epidemics in the past. More than 200 people died during the 2005 outbreak in Angola.
Those nations most vulnerable to a new outbreak of the virus have been warned, the WHO reports, and “and they are on alert.”
