One of the most deadly and untreatable pathogens in the world is on the rise in Rwanda, with eight dead and scores more thought to be at risk. Marburg virus, a relative of Ebola, causes people to bleed from their orifices and kills up to 9 in 10 of those infected. There are currently no vaccines or treatments available meaning medics instead focus on helping patients survive the infection.Most of the fatalities are among healthcare workers working in intensive care units, according to the country's health minister Sabin Nsanzimana.In total the country has 26 confirmed cases, though some 300 are thought to be at risk due to coming into contact with known patients. Mr Nsanzimana has urged people with early signs of the disease, which includes severe headaches, muscle aches, fever, diarrhoea, fatigue stomach pain and vomiting, to cease their usual activities like work and school and seek medical aid. Marburg virus is a viral haemorrhagic fever, the same type of disease that Ebola belongs to, but is even deadlier. Infected patients often become 'ghost-like', developing deep-set eyes and expressionless faces. This is usually accompanied by bleeding from multiple orifices - including the nose, gums, eyes and vagina. Like Ebola, even dead bodies can spread the virus to people exposed to its fluids. Outbreaks typically occur in areas where people have been exposed to fruit bats, which naturally harbour the virus, via entering mines or caves where the animals live.It then goes on to spread person-to-person, and also via contaminated clothing and bedding or contact with dead bodies of those killed by the virus.Marburg virus can also spread sexually through contact with bodily fluids and from mother-to-child via breastfeeding. It can take from two days to three weeks from exposure to the first appearance of symptoms. As the early stages of Marburg virus infection resemble other conditions this gives time for the pathogen to spread before officials can raise the alarm. When infection does occur, the virus targets the body's immune system, which normally works to protect against pathogens.The infection causes the body's immune system to fail to activate correctly allowing the virus to spread unchecked. Usually, around the fifth day after infection, the disease will progress to what doctors describe as the 'early organ phase'. At this point, a patient may start suffering bleeding out of their eyes, inflammation around the body, and visible swelling around their body - usually on the legs, ankles and feet.Patients will then often die within eight or nine days of their first symptoms appearing.The current outbreak has promoted the UK Government to issue a warning to British travellers to Rwanda, especially to the capital Kigali which has direct flights to Britain.This states: 'We understand it is present in hospitals in Kigali.
Investigations are being carried out to determine the origin of the infection.' The US embassy in Kigali has also taken action, telling its employees to work remotely for the next week and suspending all in-person services in a bid to avoid infections.Marburg virus is considered one of the most deadliest pathogens, with the World Health Organization stating it has a fatality rate of up to 88 percent, depending on the specifics of the outbreak and the strain involved.However, the average overall case fatality rate sits about 50 per cent, closer to Ebola, meaning about half of those infected are expected to die. While this outbreak is Rwanda's first, neighbouring Tanzania had cases of Marburg in 2023, while Uganda to the country's North, had a similar one in 2017.But these only recorded five and four fatalities respectively from a handful of cases meaning the Rwandan outbreak is already more serious. Last year fellow African nation Equatorial Guinea recorded 12 official fatalities from an outbreak of Marburg virus, though another 23 deaths are thought to be 'probable' deaths from the infection but laboratory analysis to confirm this wasn't carried out.
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