Marburg is a very deadly virus. It belongs to the same virus family as the virus that causes Ebola.
According to WHO 24–88 per cent of those who become ill die. The form of the virus and its treatment affect the prognosis.
The symptoms of the virus start quickly with fever, severe headache and muscle pain. After three days, more symptoms often occur, such as watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
Dies after eight or nine days
– Patients who have reached this stage have been described as having ghostly features, sunken eyes, expressionless faces and lethargy, WHO writes on its website.
Fear of new bat viruses
The virus causes many patients to bleed from multiple parts of the body, resulting in many patients dying about eight or nine days after becoming ill.
Medicine not found
Two people have died from the Marburg virus in the southern Ashanti region of Ghana. 98 people who were in contact with those who contracted the virus have been quarantined.
The group includes relatives of deceased patients, nurses who have taken care of them and staff at the mortuary.
There is no specific medicine or vaccine against the Marburg virus, but according to the WHO, medicines are currently being developed.
–
