Six people have died of Marburg virus disease (MVD, a haemorrhagic fever, Minister of Health Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, announced on September 28.
“A high-fever disease caused by Marburg virus has been identified in Rwanda. We count 20 people who are suffering from it, and six it has killed,” Nsanzimana said in a video posted on X by Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA).
The update comes after the Ministry of Health, on Friday, September 27, announced that Marburg virus disease had been confirmed in a few patients in health facilities in the country.
Nsanzimana said that most of the people who suffer from and those who died from the disease are healthcare workers [at health facilities], especially in intensive care units.
“The Ministry of Health, other government entities and partners, we are collaborating on contact tracing to get those who had contact with those patients and the deceased.”
He indicated that the virus infections are transmitted through contact with blood and body fluids of people who are visibly sick, and sharing equipment or clothes with them.
He indicated that it can take between three days and three weeks without the person who contracted it showing signs.
“It is a very severe disease such that a person who contracted it has high risk of losing life to it,” he said.
“But we are ensuring that tests are carried out early so that those who were affected by the disease be provided treatment to prevent serious cases or more deaths,” he added.
According to the World Health Organisation, Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a severe, often fatal illness caused by the Marburg virus. The virus causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever in humans characterized by fever, headache, back pain, muscle pain, abdominal pain, vomiting, confusion, diarrhoea, and bleeding at very late stages.
It has a fatality ratio of up to 88 per cent, and it is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease, as per WHO.
Nsanzimana said that Rwanda is working with the international organisation to curb the disease.
He requested the public not to panic, and to comply with measures to deal with the outbreak, especially by avoiding sharing equipment with a person who shows signs like those of Marburg, washing hands with clean water and soap, as well as sanitizers, among others.
He condoled with the families of the virus victims and promised that the government will continue being by their side.
“It is our partnership that enabled us to defeat previous epidemics. We hope we will also defeat this one soon,” he said.