The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that the suspected Marburg virus outbreak has killed no fewer than eight people in a remote part of northern Tanzania.
The Director-General of the United Nations Health Agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, made this disclosure in a post on X on Tuesday.
According to WHO, its member states of an outbreak of suspected Marburg Virus Disease, MVD, in the Kagera region of Tanzania.
“We are aware of nine cases so far, including eight people who have died. We would expect further cases in the coming days as disease surveillance improves.
“WHO has offered its full assistance to the government of Tanzania, and to affected communities,” he said.
The announcement came less than a month after WHO declared over a three-month Marburg outbreak in neighbouring Rwanda, which killed 15 people.
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New Telegraph gathered that Marburg causes a highly infectious haemorrhagic fever. It is transmitted from fruit bats and belongs to the same family of viruses as Ebola.
With a fatality rate that can reach close to 90 per cent, Marburg’s fever is often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.
According to WHO, the Kagera region experienced its first Marburg outbreak in March 2023, lasting for nearly two months, with nine cases including six deaths.
The UN health agency pointed out that zoonotic reservoirs, such as fruit bats, remain endemic to the area.
WHO said it assessed the risk at the national level as high due to several concerning factors.
It also estimated the regional risk as high due to Kagera’s strategic location as a transit hub with significant cross-border movement of population to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
On 13 January 2025, @WHO informed its Member States and International Health Regulations (IHR) State Parties of an outbreak of suspected #Marburg Virus Disease in Kagera region, #Tanzania, using our secure web-based platform – the Event Information Site (EIS).
Under the IHR,… pic.twitter.com/3LmCyweyxZ
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 14, 2025
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