Ghana, West Africa has confirmed the country’s first two cases of the deadly Marburg virus, a highly contagious disease from the same family as the virus that causes Ebola. Both patients recently died in the same hospital in the Ashanti region in the south of the country.
The virus was confirmed in both samples in a lab in Senegal earlier this month.
The first death was a 26-year-old man who was hospitalized on June 26, 2022 and died the next day. The second case was a 51-year-old man who was hospitalized on 28 June and died the same day.
Health officials in the African country say 98 people have been quarantined for suspected contact with infected people.
There is still no cure for Marburg, but doctors say drinking plenty of water and treating certain symptoms improves a patient’s chances of survival.
Mortality rates have ranged from 24% to 88% in previous outbreaks, depending on virus strain and case management. There are vaccines being tested that are still in phase 1 of research.
The virus is transmitted to humans through bats and spreads between humans through bodily fluids. It is a serious illness, usually fatal, with symptoms such as headache, fever, muscle aches, vomiting blood and bleeding.
Authorities warn people to stay away from caves where bats are found and to cook all meat products thoroughly before consuming them.
The World Health Organization (WHO) supports the Ministry of Health of Ghana in the Ashanti region. In the coming days, a team of experts from the international organization will be sent to work on coordination, risk assessment and infection prevention measures.
In Africa, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, the World Health Organization says. The first outbreak of the virus was detected in 1967 in Marburg, Germany. Seven of the 32 people infected in the former West Germany and Yugoslavia died.
The virus killed more than 200 people in Angola in 2005, making it the deadliest outbreak on record, according to the WHO.
– Text originally published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62204711
source: Noticias
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