Guinea health officials have confirmed West Africa’s first case of Marburg, a highly infectious disease in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the virus needed to be “stopped in its tracks”.
Marburg virus disease is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads between humans through the transmission of bodily fluids.
Cases are extremely rare with the last major outbreak in Angola in 2005.
It is a severe, often fatal illness with symptoms including headache, fever, muscle pains, vomiting blood and bleeding.
No treatment yet exists for Marburg but doctors say drinking plenty of water and treating specific symptoms improves a patient’s chances of survival.
Samples taken from the patient in Guinea, who has since died, were tested in the country’s laboratories, and returned a positive result for the Marburg virus.
It was identified in Guéckédou last week, the same region where recent Ebola cases were found in an outbreak which is now over. (BBC)
From Daily News Sri Lanka
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