WHO declared Marburg virus epidemic in Ghana. Mortality rate of Marburg virus is up to 88%. At least 59 people in the country have been quarantined for the disease, and two have died.
So how is the Marburg virus, which comes from the same family as Ebola, transmitted and protected?
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an epidemic after the Marburg virus was detected in two patients in Ghana, an African country. Health officials in Ghana said at least 98 people were quarantined in the country due to the Marburg virus. According to the statement made by the Ghana Health Service (GHS), 39 people who were quarantined were discharged.
According to the statement, if there are no problems after 21 days, if there are no new cases across the country after 2 days, they will also be rejected and the declared epidemic will end. The Marburg virus is so deadly that it comes from the same family as Ebola, which is classified by WHO as the pathogen of the fourth risk group.
The virus was first detected in 1967 in Belgrade, the capital of Germany and Serbia. This disease, which has an incubation period of 2 to 21 days, has a mortality rate of up to 88 percent.
What are the symptoms and how is it transmitted?
The first symptoms of this disease are high fever, severe headaches and weakness. After the third day, watery diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting are seen. WHO officials describe this stage as “the patient’s appearance” as a ghostly weakness, a sunken, expressionless face, and extreme lethargy.” Due to a disease in which bleeding begins in different parts of the body, patients die of excessive blood loss and shock within 8-9 days after being infected with the virus.
For which there are currently no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments, Marburg virus is transmitted from fruit bats to humans and spreads between humans through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces and infected materials. Since its discovery in 1967, it has been found in Germany, Yugoslavia (Serbia), South Africa, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Uganda, the United States, the Netherlands, Guinea and Ghana.
It turned out that people infected with this virus traveled to Uganda in the United States and the Netherlands. Angola had the highest death toll from the virus at 329 in 2005.
Finally, in Ghana, where the disease has been detected, authorities recommend avoiding caves where bat colonies live and cooking them thoroughly before consuming all meat products.
WHO also recommends avoiding physical contact with people suspected of having this person-to-person virus and practicing safe sex and hygiene for men recovering from Marburg virus disease.
We will advise you for 12 months from the onset of symptoms. or as expected. Marburg virus is negative twice. Because even if the patient recovers, his blood and sperm can transmit the virus for months.
