Africa: Rwanda Struggles To Halt Spread Of Marburg Virus

Monrovia — Rwandan health authorities are struggling to contain the outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus, which has claimed the lives of about a dozen people. Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana said those infected are mostly healthcare workers who are usually the first responders.

Contact tracing for hundreds of people is occurring to prevent further spread of the disease in Rwanda and the wider region, Nsanzimana said. Speaking during an online briefing on Thursday, he said that the country is grappling with the viral hemorrhagic fever at the same time as dealing with mpox.

“We are going to stop this before it spreads,” he said, noting that they are collaborating with various international partners,  including the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) which he said has already dispatched a team to beef up the Rwandan capacity.

More than 30 people are confirmed to have contracted the virus so far in the country, with 11 deaths. There is currently no approved vaccine for Marburg which belongs to the same family of viruses as Ebola. It spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or an animal carrying the virus. Minister Zsanzimana said the disease presents the same early symptoms as other tropical diseases, such as malaria, except that it is more deadly – with a mortality rate as high as 80%.

Although Rwanda is reeling from its first experience with the disease, there have been several outbreaks on the continent, including the 2023 ones in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea.  The World Health Organization said the risk of a global spread remains low, but that the Rwanda flare-up poses national and regional concerns.

During Thursday’s briefing, the head of the Africa CDC, Dr. Jean Kaseya, dispelled the rumor that a travel ban was issued for the country, although he said they are monitoring the situation.

Dr. Kaseya announced that they were running out of materials to carry out more testing and used the occasion to call for “local manufacturing” of rapid test kits for all such outbreaks, including mpox and COVID-19. He said it would be convenient if these materials were produced on the continent.