Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced on Monday the confirmation of a Marburg virus outbreak in the northwest region of the country, with one case verified to date.
“Laboratory analyses performed at the Kabaile Mobile Laboratory in Kagera and subsequently validated in Dar es Salaam have identified one individual as infected with the Marburg virus,” she stated during a press conference attended by World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Dodoma, the nation’s central town.
Just a week prior, Tanzania’s health minister had refuted claims of an outbreak, asserting that no individuals had tested positive for the viral infection. This denial followed reports from the WHO indicating that eight individuals had succumbed to suspected cases of the virus in the same region on January 10.
The affected individuals exhibited classic symptoms associated with Marburg, such as severe headaches, high fever, back pain, diarrhea, vomiting blood, muscle weakness, and external bleeding.
This viral hemorrhagic fever can have a fatality rate reaching up to 88% and belongs to the same viral family as Ebola, which is transmitted to humans through fruit bats found in certain areas of East Africa.
Hassan indicated that the government had intensified its response measures, deploying a rapid response team to the affected area to monitor all suspected cases and attempt to control the outbreak.
She noted that at least 25 suspected cases had tested negative for the virus. Tedros announced that the WHO would allocate $3 million from its emergency contingency fund to assist in the containment efforts in Tanzania.
This marks the second reported outbreak of the disease in Kagera; in 2023, there were nine reported cases resulting in six fatalities.
“The government’s investments in addressing the previous outbreak have enhanced capacities that I trust will enable Tanzania to manage this latest outbreak effectively and swiftly,” Tedros remarked.
