Rwanda’s ministry of health on Thursday said it is on alert after the deadly Marburg broke out in neighboring Tanzania.
Dr. Edson Rwagasore, Division Manager of Public Health Surveillance, Emergency Preparedness and Response in Rwanda confirmed the development adding that despite the movement of people crossing the border [with Tanzania], the risks of importing cases to Rwanda is real.
“We have enhanced active surveillance both at the community, health facilities, and points of entry, where temperature screening is done for all passengers coming into the country,” he said.
The government has also strengthened testing capacity for all viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Marburg, in several parts of the country to avoid any imported cases, it said.
Earlier this week, Tanzanian health authorities said laboratory tests show that a strange illness that killed a dozen people in Bukoba region was caused by the Marburg virus.
World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said the WHO is working with the Tanzanian government to “rapidly scale up control measures to halt the spread of the virus and end the outbreak as soon as possible.”
According to the WHO, Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes hemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88 percent; it is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease.
Illness caused by the Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache, and severe malaise. Many patients develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.
The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces, and materials.
CU/abj/APA