Tanzania confirmed its first‑ever cases of Marburg Virus Disease on Tuesday after laboratory tests were carried out in response to reports of illness and deaths in the north‑west Kagera region. The National Public Health Laboratory analysed samples from eight people who had developed fever, vomiting, bleeding and renal failure. Five of the eight cases, including a health worker, have died, while the remaining three are receiving treatment, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). A total of 161 contacts have been identified and are being monitored.
Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent hemorrhagic fever with a fatality ratio of up to 88 percent. It belongs to the same family as the Ebola virus. Illness begins abruptly with high fever, severe headache and malaise, and many patients develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days. The virus is transmitted to humans from fruit bats and spreads among people through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals, as well as contaminated surfaces and materials. No vaccines or antiviral treatments are approved for Marburg; however, supportive care—such as oral or intravenous rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms—can improve survival.
“The efforts by Tanzania’s health authorities to establish the cause of the disease is a clear indication of the determination to effectively respond to the outbreak. We are working with the government to rapidly scale up control measures to halt the spread of the virus and end the outbreak as soon as possible,” said WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti. The global health body is supporting the Ministry of Health by deploying an emergency team to Kagera to conduct further epidemiological investigations, focusing on active case finding in the community and local health facilities to identify additional contacts and provide appropriate care.
Although Tanzania has never previously recorded a Marburg case, it has responded to other health emergencies—including COVID‑19, cholera and dengue—over the past three years. A strategic risk assessment conducted by WHO in September 2022 indicated that the country faces a high to very high risk of infectious disease outbreaks. “The lessons learned and progress made during other recent outbreaks should stand the country in good stead as it confronts this latest challenge,” Dr Moeti said. “We will continue to work closely with the national health authorities to save lives.”
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