Outbreak of the highly infectious Marburg virus disease

(MainsGS3:Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.)

Context:

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) convened an urgent meeting after central African nation Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first outbreak of the highly infectious Marburg virus disease, or MVD.

History of disease:

• Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a severe illness that causes viral haemorrhagic fever in humans (it was formerly known as Marburg haemorrhagic fever). 
• The virus was first identified after simultaneous outbreaks in Frankfurt and Marburg, Germany — from where it derives its name — and Belgrade, Serbia in 1967. 
• Those first infected were exposed to Ugandan imported African green monkeys or their tissues while conducting research, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
• Since then, cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.

About Marburg virus disease:

• Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is transmitted to primates from bats which are considered natural hosts of the virus. 
• Fruit bats infected with the virus do not show obvious signs of illness, but it can cause serious illness or death in humans.
• It spreads among humans via direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats, or surfaces contaminated with fluids, like bedsheets and clothes. 
• The disease can also spread during burial ceremonies if there is direct contact with the body of the deceased. 
• Both the Marburg and Ebola viruses belong to the Filoviridae family and the diseases caused by the two present clinical similarities.

Infection and curability:

• The virus takes between two and 21 days to incubate and as per WHO, the disease has an average fatality rate of 50%, which has varied from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks. 
• A person infected with the virus experiences sudden illness with symptoms like high fever, severe headache and discomfort and many develop severe haemorrhagic signs within seven days, as per the CDC. 
• Muscle aches and pains are a common feature with severe watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain and cramping, nausea and vomiting can begin on the third day. 
• The appearance of patients at this phase has been described as showing “ghost-like” drawn features, deep-set eyes, expressionless faces, and extreme lethargy,” the WHO states.
• During the severe phase of the illness, patients sustain high fevers. Involvement of the central nervous system can result in confusion, irritability, and aggression. 
• In fatal cases, death often occurs eight or nine days after the onset of symptoms, usually preceded by severe blood loss and shock.

Taking steps:

• On February 7, local health authorities in Equatorial Guinea’s Kie-Ntem province alerted health agencies about an unknown illness causing hemorrhagic fever, following which samples were sent to a lab in Senegal to ascertain the cause of the disease. 
• Advance teams have been deployed in the affected districts to trace contacts, isolate and provide medical care to people showing symptoms of the disease. 
• Efforts are also underway to rapidly mount an emergency response, with WHO deploying health emergency experts in epidemiology, case management, infection prevention, laboratory and risk communication to support the national response efforts and secure community collaboration in the outbreak control.