WHO says Guinea is monitoring 155 contacts after confirmed Marburg case

DAKAR, Aug. 10 (Reuters) – Guinean health authorities are monitoring 155 people who may have been in contact with a confirmed case of Marburg virus disease, a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola, an organization official said on Tuesday. world health.

The Marburg case, which according to the WHO was the first in West Africa, has been confirmed in Gueckedou, in south-eastern Guinea. The region was the source of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016, the deadliest in history, and has seen a brief outbreak of Ebola this year.

Georges Ki-Zerbo, the WHO country head in Guinea, said Marburg had circulated in animals, especially bats, in southern Guinea and neighboring countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Pathogens tend to pass from animals to humans in the region due to their close interaction, especially when hunting and consuming “bushmeat” in the wild.

“There are no known secondary cases … Contacts have been traced, and 155 people have been under observation for three weeks,” Ki-Zerbo said in an interview.

“It’s active surveillance. Contacts are kept at home, isolated from other family members. They are visited daily to check for potential symptoms.”

Marburg and Ebola are closely related, and transmission between humans is usually through contact with blood or other bodily fluids.

Guinea was declared Ebola-free two months ago, following an epidemic that killed 12 people. Read more

Death rates in Marburg in past epidemics have ranged from 24% to 88% of those infected.

But Ki-Zerbo said Guinea was better prepared to deal with an outbreak than it was when Ebola struck in 2014. The discovery of the Marburg case also indicated a better ability to detect such outbreaks. infections.

“Guinea has put in place a solid health security system since the last Ebola epidemic from 2014 to 2016,” he said, highlighting the use of rapid response teams, disease detectives, epidemiologists and social anthropologists, and better coordination with neighboring countries.

“Overall, the approach to the fight against Marburg would be no different from Ebola,” he said. “The only difference is that there is no vaccine or drug specifically directed against the virus. Only supportive care is available.”

Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Kevin Liffey

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