Jakarta –
Equatorial Guinea recently confirmed just 13 cases of Marburg’s disease since the start of the epidemic. This was reported after the government of the Central African country was urged by the World Health Organization to report new cases officially.
Nine people have died, while one patient has recovered since the start of the epidemic, said the Equatorial Guinea Health Ministry.
The local authority also added that 825 contacts had been traced since the epidemic occurred.
The country confirmed its first outbreak of the disease in February, according to the WHO, which last week reported 9 laboratory-confirmed cases and brought the total number of deaths and probable cases of death from the Marburg virus to a total of 20 patients.
“WHO is aware of additional cases and we have asked the government to formally report these cases to WHO,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday morning, quoted by Reuters.
“The number of officially reported cases of death remains nine, with seven deaths, in the three provinces. However, these three provinces are 150 kilometers apart, indicating wider transmission of the virus,” he said.
As well as Equatorial Guinea, there is also an outbreak of marburg virus in Tanzania. A total of eight cases including five deaths have been reported in the northwestern region of Kagera, WHO said.
WHO said it was currently working with local authorities and vaccine manufacturers to conduct trials in affected countries.
Watch Video “Recognize the Early Symptoms of the Marburg Virus Appearing in Africa“
(suc/kna)
