- Two cases of life-threatening Marburg fever were detected in Ghana for the first time.
- The WHO Africa office confirmed these cases.
- This was after Marburg virus was detected in samples from two patients from the Ashanti region in southern Ghana.
It was revealed at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar (Senegal). The two men, one 26, the other 51, died in hospital at the end of June. They had symptoms such as diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting. According to the authorities, they were infected independently of each other.
Ghanaian health authorities, with support from the World Health Organization, have increased surveillance. About 90 people who had last contact with the deceased were contacted and residents were informed of symptoms and risks.
Relationship to the Ebola virus
Marburg virus is named after the German city because laboratory staff there contracted the previously unknown virus in test monkeys in 1967. The virus is believed to have originated from flying foxes associated with bats.
People become infected through contact with infected bodily fluids. Depending on treatment options, a quarter to 80 percent of those infected die. Guinea reported a case last year.
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